I often play with imagery from Korean embroidery and folk art to make a bridge to my ancestry. Like making a spicy effervescent kimchee, I use color and whimsy to ferment a wide range of inspirations and influences.

My father was a refugee from Anju, North Korea and my mother was born in Kwangju, near Seoul. In the 1960s, they came to the US as graduate students living in the Morningside Heights area of New York City. When I was born, my grandmother immigrated from Korea to raise me until we moved to Long Island.

Through painting, I weave connections. I honor 10,000 ancestors, the sweet mundane and the countless acts of everyday love, courage and generosity that makes life persist.