A typhoon is something you don’t want to be near. The chaos and destruction of a tropical hurricane can uproot and scatter homes, buildings, plant, animal and human life, and sometimes bring catastrophic death.

However, the creators of a new gallery in Chophouse Row are taking the idea of the typhoon and flipping it, imagining it instead as a meditation on diaspora, uprootedness, and belonging.

From Typhoon is an art gallery that explores many different experiences of scattering, remixing, and transformation.

Making their debut in mid-April, co-owners, directors, and curators J.A. Dela Cruz-Smith and Robinick Fernandez opened their gallery between Wide Eyed Wines and Marmite in Chophouse Row, in Suite B to be exact, at 1424 11th Avenue. From Typhoon was initially conceived as a digital gallery during the pandemic, but with the encouragement and approval of Capitol Hill developer Liz Dunn, From Typhoon secured a 625-square-foot physical space.

“It really came out of us wanting to connect with each other, Robinick and I, on a deeper level, as lovers and as partners,” Dela Cruz-Smith said.

During the pandemic, Dela Cruz-Smith and Fernandez both worked from home and found they had a knack for working on projects together. “We wanted to commit to art in a new way for ourselves,” Dela Cruz-Smith said. “We wanted to connect folks in Capitol Hill, Seattle, with artists that moved us.”

Dela Cruz-Smith is a CHamoru-Filipino American poet whose work has been published in several anthologies. He is working on his own book of poems, slated to come out later this year, and stepping into the world of visual art and video poetry. Fernandez is a Filipino American Senior Associate Designer at Mithun. His own work includes garments, soft sculptures, and 3D wall pieces that explore Filipino myths and the environment. The themes of Fernandez’s work “often draw[s] from family stories or old relationships. I’m thinking about queer love, intimacy, what it’s like to come back from a failed marriage,” he said.

Scattered throughout the world by colonial forces, Filipino, CHamoru, and other Asian or Pacific Islanders and their descendants often feel caught between their familial roots and the cultures in which they live. “I’ve always been so fascinated by and drawn to the idea of the typhoon as a symbol for the diaspora that I’m part of,” Dela Cruz-Smith said. “Our places where our families are from have been colonized and we’ve been moved elsewhere. Now we are expressions of our ancestors in these very different ways.”

Dela Cruz-Smith noted that the in-between, or liminal space, is where many Asian American or Pacific Islander people find themselves — not quite Filipino enough when they go home, and not quite American enough in the U.S., he offered as an example.

“It wasn’t until recently that we realized that the other place — the space in-between — is another space to be in. To live and to thrive. Coming to that realization has opened up a lot of different possibilities for us like this gallery,” Dela Cruz-Smith said.

Artists featured at From Typhoon may not have the same exact experiences as Dela Cruz-Smith and Fernandez, but they all have some connection with “not being one way or the other,” but something in-between.

The gallery opened with a show by Portland-based fiber artist Andrea Alonge, “We Can Take Forever Just a Minute At a Time,” on April 17. Her brightly-colored fabric and embroidered pieces speak to interpersonal connections and boundaries, psychedelic visions, and the “compulsion to touch.” Dela Cruz-Smith and Fernandez thought it would be effective to feature a textile artist during a pandemic, and encouraged visitors to touch the works.

Currently at From Typhoon is “POP’d” by Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza, an artist whose work has been a touchstone for other Filipino American artists. “POP’d” is a survey of her work from the last decade, and explores the American education system, colonization, and her identity through scale and repetition of everyday objects. Her works on display include raft, which features a wooden palette and bags of rice inspired by the Botan Rice brand, but with a twist. raft explores ideas of immigration, consumerism, and globalism.

Coming in July is a show called “La Muda / The Mute” from printmaker Emily Gonsalez. Her show will include works about the senses, including some abstract works.

During this pandemic in-between state as things shift into a next normal, Dela Cruz-Smith and Fernandez are taking things cautiously. Although they will participate in the return of Capitol Hill’s Art Walk, they don’t have any events planned at From Typhoon just yet. The gallery can accommodate up to five guests at a time and masks are required.

You can visit From Typhoon on Wednesdays by appointment, or from Thursday through Saturday from 11 AM to 7 PM in Chophouse Row at 1424 11th Ave, Suite B. Follow From Typhoon on Instagram or visit fromtyphoon.com to stay up-to-date on future events.

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