In less than a decade, young gallerist Emilia Yin and her gallery Make Room have earned a reputation as sharp talent scouts with a diverse international program that alternates a range of aesthetics and global perspectives while tackling issues that resonate with her generation. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Yin moved to Los Angeles to pursue her studies and quickly carved out a space for herself in the city’s competitive art scene, founding Make Room in 2018 in Chinatown. Less than five years later, with the gallery primed for growth, she relocated to a 4,500-square-foot space in West Hollywood—nearly tripling its size. The new space boasts multiple exhibition rooms, an outdoor courtyard and a garden where Yin periodically hosts opening celebrations and community events. During one such opening, staged during Frieze Week, Observer caught up with the gallerist to learn more about her journey, business model and vision.
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At the same time, the gallerist has recently extended her geographical research field, concentrating mainly on the long-overlooked talent emerging in the Global South, between South America and Southeast Asia. “There’s a growing shift where artists from historically overlooked regions are no longer waiting for validation from the West; instead, they are asserting their narratives, dictating their terms and radically expanding the global art dialogue. That’s where my focus is.”
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The art world is much more decentralized today, and Yin maintains that for talent, there’s no single geographic epicenter. “Great work is being produced everywhere—from Seoul to Mexico City, from Jakarta to Berlin,” she said. “What matters now is not just location but connectivity: how artists engage with global dialogues while staying true to their own cultural contexts.”