Although I have had several career changes through the years and even wrote for a living, writing about myself has never been easy. I originally earned my BA and MS in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University and spent my early days working in cancer research.

When I left the lab it was to realise my dream of the visual arts. As a professional photographer I got to travel the world and tell human stories in a beautiful way, which is a core part of being a creator that I still love to this day.

But over time the camera felt too quick, catching only a single moment out of many. And so I went back to basics, attending the Florence Academy of Art in Italy to study the drawing, painting, and material preparation techniques of the old masters in a traditional atelier environment.

In 2024 I graduated from the 3-year program and have since been painting from life & imagination in my studio in Wales.

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Artist Statement

Light is an essential part of oil painting just as it is for photography. I aim to explore this in context of the human experience and through symbolism of visual storytelling.

I make dramatically-lit portraits and still life paintings slowly, over many layers and many months, in the way of the Old Masters. I began painting in response to the exhaustion I felt in our frenetic, fast-paced digital world, and I enjoy the meditative and tactile experience found in the alchemy of paint. My realism work celebrates the simple beauty of light and form and invites you to slow down and take a closer look at the people and objects around you at a time when our ability to see is being eroded by the pace of digital life.

Finally: As a first-generation Korean-American who has lived, worked, and studied in many countries, my personal work seeks to illustrate the experience of “The Other” and complex emotions in the struggle to belong.