Kaz Oshiro's art reflects punk rock and pop culture influences. It also plays with classic ideas of trompe-l'oeil, consumerism and pop art, as evidenced with "Trash Bin No. 10," a 3-D work of canvas and acrylic paint.

Born on Okinawa in 1967 and living in Los Angeles, Oshiro is one of a new generation of artists just as likely as to be inspired by the detritus of dorm living as he is with photorealism.

So, uh, what's Asian about that?

You can see Oshiro's work in a traveling group show, "One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now," at the Honolulu Academy of Arts as part of the museum's "Asian Sensation" summer program.

When curators Melissa Chiu, Karin Higa and Susette S. Min began to survey work by contemporary Asian artists for "One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now," they were not so much surprised by what they discovered as excited.

"What we found was really remarkable," says Higa, senior curator of art at the Japanese National Museum in Los Angeles. "We found lots of interesting, compelling work by Asian-American artists, who were — for lack of a better phrase — proud of their Asian heritage, but not simplistically defined by it. They were making work that was incredibly diverse."

The Academy's "Asian Sensation" features three simultaneous shows by contemporary artists.

In addition to "One Way or Another," the program includes "Shu: Reinventing Books in Contemporary Chinese Art," which features work by some of the biggest names in contemporary Chinese art. It opens Thursday and runs through Aug. 31.

Also, "Leland Miyano: Historia Naturalia et Artificialia" showcases the work of O'ahu-based sculptor and landscape artist Miyano. Miyano's site-specific installation runs through Aug. 24.

"One Way or Another" and "Shu" were both traveling shows with end dates in sight when curators for the academy separately approached the organizing venues and asked for extensions.

On the surface, they seem to share little other than that the artists are at least part-Asian. Running the two shows simultaneously, however, adds weight to the ideas explored — especially those relating to the murkiness of cultural identity and art making in the United States today.

"We thought it would be interesting to juxtapose the two shows together to show the relationship between Asian-American art and Asian art in the international art market," says Shawn Eichman, Asian art curator for the academy. "In the 'Shu' exhibition there are a number of Chinese artists who are now located in the United States pretty much permanently ... In that sense, we thought there was a direct link between the two exhibitions."

"One Way or Another" was originally organized by the Asia Society, New York, as part of its 50th anniversary celebration. It presents the work of emerging artists who came of age in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s.

Theirs is a world of diversity, with influences that run from minimalism to classic Chinese painting. From artists such as Mika Tajima, who showed at this year's Whitney Biennial, to Michael Arcega, who will be an artist in residence at The Contemporary Museum next year, the work of these young artists can't be easily classified.

"Everyone was really proud of their heritage, but how they expressed that is different than ... in previous generations," Higa says.

"On one hand the show is about race because it's about Asian-American artists. And on the other hand, it's about the insufficiency of race as an organizing principal when talking about art. So, the work in the show undercuts in some ways the thesis. We're saying, 'Look, this is a show about Asian-American artists,' and ... you are not going to be able to tell they are Asian-American artists."

Sue Kiyabu is a freelance writer living in Honolulu.