On this page you’ll find links to several of the sites I’ve worked on as part of Seeing Lost Enclaves.
For each of five sites, I created photospheres from the reconstructed models I crafted, many with collaborating artists. These are more accessible, archivable, and higher fidelity than the models themselves, and can be viewed here.
Providence had a vibrant Chinese American neighborhood on both Burrill Street and Empire Street between c1880-1914, but successive displacements pushed the community out of downtown by 1914.
Some in the community were escaping racist violence across the West Coast, including Taw Foo, who moved from Portland, and grew heritage vegetables on a plot outside of town. The community included musicians, chefs, pharmacists, and members of a local church choir. Tucked into small private alleys were a tea shop, several groceries, and a restaurant called Yick’s.
On the west side of Portland, at the present site of the Multnomah Athletic Club and Lincoln High School, a small farming village lived along the banks of Tanner Creek from the 1870s through the early 1900s. Today it is covered by many feet of infill, but by 1900, dozens of small buildings clustered on the hill overlooking the creek, where you could see crops growing in lush fields on the steep hillsides, and clothes hung out to dry.
This portal was created in collaboration with Dri Chiu Tattersfield 
. Read more »
The Taoist Temple is still stewarded by descendants of the neighborhood called China Alley in Hanford, California. As artist Evelyn Yin writes: "The town of Hanford was formed in 1877 when the Southern Pacific Railroad extended into California's San Joaquin Valley. Many Chinese laborers came to work on the tracks and later stayed for farming. They were mostly from Sam Yup (三邑 sānyì), the three former counties of Namhoi (南海 nánhǎi), Poonyu (番禺 pānyú) and Shuntak (顺德 shùndé) in Canton — now known as Guǎngdōng 广东 — province. China Alley prospered to include restaurants, homes, boarding houses, general merchandise stores, herb shops, gambling establishments, a Chinese school, and a temple. Over 100 years later, the brick buildings remain largely intact and unaltered."
This portal was created in collaboration with Evelyn Hang Yin and the help of the China Alley Preservation Society . Read more »
In 1908, Pachappa Camp was established in Riverside, CA during the beginning of the occupation of Korea by the Empire of Japan and played a role in independence organizing by early Korean Americans. Families built a small community and earned money by picking citrus. Photos of residents include children playing baseball and track, riding bicycles, learning trumpet and playing among the chrysanthemums the community grew.
This portal was created in collaboration with Mikki Paek and with the help of the Young Oak Kim Center for Korean American Studies at UC Riverside.
In 1870, more than a quarter of the population of Truckee was Chinese American, and a bustling Chinatown included 11 groceries, as well as tea shops, doctor’s offices, gardens, and a bath house.
Truckee’s Chinatowns were subject to racist treatment and were burnt down repeatedly until 1886, when most Chinese Americans left. Some relocated to Oroville and other areas, where they found relative safety and prosperity. Today, descendants of the Fong Lee family business in Truckee continue to trace their history back over 140 generations and still remember their years in Truckee and the home they were able to make there.
This portal was created as part of an ongoing collaboration with Dri Chiu Tattersfield
Hidden Portals
For the month of May, 2024, at the sites of 5 historical erased Asian American communities, portals were hidden in plain sight. When you approach, the portals opened, allowing a glimpse into virtually reconstructed, immersive moments from their pasts.
As a part of my residency project, portals were also created in and around the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. My collaborators and I spent the past two years crafting these portals from archival records, photographs, oral histories and other clues. Our experiences sifting through archival clues have also revealed how these stories have been historically hidden.
Use the links above to access the photospheres. However, if you are unable to use the photospheres, there are video recordings of each available as well:
- Portland: https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-11439/
- Providence: https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-11438/
- Pachappa/Riverside: https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-11436/
- Hanford: https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-11437/
- Truckee: https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-11435/
Mozilla Hubs was a platform used early in Seeing Lost Enclaves to create a multi-person online environment to experience the reconstructions. Unfortunately, Mozilla shut down Hubs in May 2024. While there are some replacements under development, these links currently no longer work.
In Mozilla Hubs, multiple people may visit at once – that is, these spaces are shared: you may encounter other people on their own virtual visits. Please bear in mind that for some visitors, especially Asian American visitors, or descendants of those who lived in these spaces, this visit may be connected to difficult histories and may inspire complex feelings. Some may be grieving these spaces. Some may be seeking to re-connect, or to feel a sense of belonging.
Asian American and Asian Diaspora visitors are the primary audience and our experience of the space takes priority. I’d like to ask that as you visit, you offer others space and respect, just as you show respect to the stories and communities which are represented here.
As you enter you’ll see a waiting area, in which you’ll be prompted to choose an “avatar” — a body to represent you in the reconstructed virtual space. In choosing an avatar, please consider how your presence in the space will transform it, with the above considerations in mind.
Please reach out via the contact page if you have questions or would like to discuss any of this further.
Portland Chinese Vegetable Gardens, c1900
(in collaboration with Dri Chiu Tattersfield )