About Me
I was born and grew up in South Korea. I started my atelier lessons at age 9 with Hyunkye Cho, a South Korean watercolor master, and continued my training in drawing and painting until I finished high school, winning many student awards along the way.
When it came time to go to university, however, I could not persuade my parents to let me pursue an art degree. Instead, I majored in Politics and Diplomacy at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, and subsequently (to the best of my knowledge) became the first Korean woman to earn a Ph.D. in political science at Yale University in New Haven, CT. In 2006, after completing a research fellowship at the Brookings Institution, working at the Library of Congress and teaching at Indiana University as a visiting scholar, I moved to the Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania along with my family. With that change, I’ve taken the opportunity to return to my childhood dream of becoming a painter.
For the first few years thereafter, I have studied with Laurie Daddona, Karen Fogarty and Kashim Amoudi to broaden my artistic horizons. I am a member of the Delaware Valley Art League, ARTsisters and PAC (Philadelphia Arts Connection), a full member of Philadelphia/Tri State Artist Equity, and an associate member of Philadelphia Watercolor Society. I have participated in many art shows in the Philadelphia area.
My primary medium is watercolor. I am most familiar with it and have the most confidence in handling and manipulating it. Watercolor suits my temperament, and above all, I like its clarity, intensity and crispness. I have also worked with oil and acrylic for several years.
I paint things and events around me—ordinary things that evoke a strong emotional response in me. Like Edward Hopper, I paint what I can’t put into words. I have recorded flowers for the fleeting beauty that I saw when they were presented to me, for my emotional responses to them and in memory of the giver’s love, generosity and care. I have been experimenting with combining Western painting methods with elements of oriental paintings in some of my flower paintings. In addition, I paint portraits of homes on commissions.
At present, I am working on a series tentatively entitled “Four Seasons,” which explores various approaches to memories of my childhood hometown in South Korea and other places where I’ve lived and to which I’ve traveled.
