As an imported Korean, meaning I was brought to the US and sold to a white family for adoption, my work revolves around themes of transracial identity, Asian American women's issues, reproduction, marriage and family life in America. My drawing process is meditative and intuitive, informed by patterns in nature and a visual symbolic language that has evolved over the past 20 years. Language philosophy, mythology and near eastern religions have also influenced the themes in my work as they have provided guideposts and filters for my own existential reflections. Drawing and making art is and has become my prosthetic for breathing and living in this translated space.
Drawing From Life
As a species we are driven to reproduce. This reproduction is facilitated through biology, science, culture and force. As a woman and a mother in the 21st century I reflect on how my life story is ruled by this imperative. Complementary to this desire to reproduce biologically is the desire to replicate one’s ways of thinking. The population of ideologies is an alternative and sometimes more effective way of reproduction. My current body of work represents meditations on the personal, scientific and political demonstrations of this reproductive imperative.
My drawings are informed by my fascination with microorganisms and biological systems, but are unique reflections of subconscious patterns. Whereas most of my early work begins in graphite gold is also an important symbol in my work. Gold is a symbol of power, dominance, corruption, desire as well as reverance, purity and the sacred. I do not know why as an element it has been chosen to feed, propel and give value to our desires. It may be as primal as its semblance to the sun or its value as an incorruptible element. I also use the colors pink and blue to this portfolio of work. Though basely interpreted as gendered colors I identify with them as symbols of vulnerability, life and beatitude. As an artist I am a believer in transformation. My art is in practice a way for me to envision and create a world of truth, beauty and love, even and especially, when the culture we live in is fraught with pain and corruption.