People can relate to my paintings because they expose the hidden emotions lurking beneath everyday events. I want viewers to be intrigued by what they see in my art. I want them to look once and then, having been touched by something real, choose to look again.

The primary motivation behind my work is the release of emotion. Being able to express my feelings through a blank paper or canvas enables me to keep moving forward in life. Armed with a brush and a canvas, I can express the trapped inner workings of my soul. For me, the process is what matters: the experience of shaping my artwork, the sensation of my arm moving and the force of my fingers making the marks on the paper.

I was born in America, educated in America, and have grown up in the midst of American culture, but I am Korean as well. My works convey the roller coaster of emotions about finding self. As an artist, I try to communicate my innermost thoughts and feelings through my subjects. The key to the expression of my own identity and cultural struggles is the use of Asian Americans as the subject of my work. As I struggle to define my identity, my artwork becomes an extension of these conflicts. My work is the voice I cannot use to speak, it is the dream I envision, and it is the expression of my belief.

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