My identity as a Korean American has always been a central element in my life. Raised by my American father and Korean mother, their disparate beliefs rooted in their upbringings in distinct cultures has often led to arguments over a number of issues. Navigating this cultural schism has brought me a lot of confusion and uncertainty. While my home life in more significantly affected by my Korean according the the balance of personalities of my parents, my appearance, light hair and green eyes, belies my culture to others, especially living in America. Through this clash of culture, the unity of my Korean and American cultures through food affirms my racial identity and assuages my cultural dysphoria. I am fortunate enough to have a mother who constantly provides homemade Korean food, and a father who prepares generally American food. The intersection of food bridges the cultural gap in my home life, and represents that for which I am eternally grateful. The exchange of dissonance and harmony in my heritage is expressed in my artwork. In my painting, the arms of my father, wearing his wedding ring, help my mother in opening a jar of kimchi, a staple of Korean food. This representation represents the contrasting elements of my culture, while simultaneously bringing them together in harmony.

During one of my nature walks, a tree stump captured my attention because it resembled a human eye. Earlier in the day, I had taken a photograph of a classmate's eye, and the semblance between the two was uncanny. As an environmental activist who loves nature, I saw an opportunity. I decided to juxtapose the two photos with the goal of "humanizing" nature. Much of my photography centers around nature and the environment. I hope my images will stir people emotionally and inspire them to think more about our relationship with the Earth. We need to respect the environment and protect it at all costs, because our two fates are intertwined!

During 2022, I unfortunately tore my ACL playing soccer. I was devastated that I couldn't play soccer or run track for almost a year. For me, sports were my outlet for stress and were something I've enjoyed my whole life. When I got injured, I needed to find a new way to enjoy sports. That way was through photography. Throughout the track and soccer seasons I loved experimenting with various angles, shutter speeds, lenses, and even an automatic shutter attachment. I ran hurdles and in freshman year I was in this race. This picture was from the Freshman and Sophomore Championship meet. Then, last year, during sophomore year, I was apart of the race in a different way, documenting it. Through photography I was able to stay connected to the sports I loved while still feeling involved and like I was making an impact. Throughout the season I was known as the team photographer and I loved sharing my photos of the various games or track meets. With photography as my new outlet, it helped me cope mentally and emotionally with being injured for so long and in a way helped me overcome my own hurdles.

In my watercolor painting, I sought to capture the often overlooked beauty nestled within a gas station.

In this piece, I investigated a pervasive feeling of surveillance under the constant gaze of society, literally and figuratively. The inverted and reversed head, black hair in a bun, represents a commanding, professional figure, perhaps even my future self. By deliberately hiding the face of this figure, I invite my audience to project their own judge image. Despite the central presence of the towering figure who scrutinizes the faces below (snapshots taken from my camera roll), the girl still expresses a plethora of emotions from joy to contemplation, seemingly unaware. This piece is meant to capture and embrace all my authentic selves despite the weight of societal expectations and judgment. It also explores the internal conflicts within and beyond myself, as the looming head of self-criticism is omnipotent. Ultimately, this visual vignette dives into the push-and-pull between the external scrutiny I face and the desire for true self-expression I feel.

Early in the school year my friends and I began doing urban exploration within San Francisco and the Bay Area and I found it as a perfect excuse to bring my camera along. Most of the photos that I have taken in the past couple of months highlight abandoned areas and different spots that my friends and I have spent time researching and exploring. Out of all the photos that I've taken recently this is by far my favorite as it not only has the thrill factor with my friend sitting over the edge but also the San Francisco skyline in the background. I personally enjoy urban exploration because it allows my friends and I to visit and explore places that most people don't know exist or don't know how to find which makes it feel more special than going somewhere that everyone has been and everyone can get to. I take AP Photography at my high school and at the beginning of the year we had to select ”

Early in the school year my friends and I began doing urban exploration within San Francisco and the Bay Area and I found it as a perfect excuse to bring my camera along. Most of the photos that I have taken in the past couple of months highlight abandoned areas and different spots that my friends and I have spent time researching and exploring. Out of all the photos that I've taken recently this is by far my favorite as it not only has the thrill factor with my friend sitting over the edge but also the San Francisco skyline in the background. I personally enjoy urban exploration because it allows my friends and I to visit and explore places that most people don't know exist or don't know how to find which makes it feel more special than going somewhere that everyone has been and everyone can get to. I take AP Photography at my high school and at the beginning of the year we had to select a topic to follow throughout the year. I initially selected "hands" as my topic but very quickly switched to "how people explore abandoned places" in order to accompany our weekend trips to find new spots. Being able to take my camera and document these places has been an unexpected surprise and I am glad that I found an interest that is not only fun but can also add artistic value as well.

I wrote "Teeth" about the day before my 18th birthday. Birthdays bring up a lot of emotions for me, mostly melancholy ones. I wanted this poem to capture a sort of factual, everyday (a trip to the dentist, subtle symptoms of depression) but still honest and vulnerable reflection, rooted (no pun intended) in detail. I created meaning and metaphor out of those details. "gas station ghost" is classic teenage feminine desire. I was inspired by the idea of liminal space, both physical (an empty gas station at night, that haunting or dream-like feeling a setting can have) and emotional/metaphorical (feeling empty, lost, wistful). I wanted to be beautiful and appealing to this person and I wanted them to lean into vulnerability. I like the imagery in both of these poems and the way in which they (hopefully) convey a mood through imagery and reflection, but in a way that’s not super intense or stated outright. I think the best poetry is subtle-profound, and that's what I often aim for in my work.

Going into this painting, I didn't have a specific intention or significance in mind. Starting out, I had the idea to flip the perspective of a self portrait and show a part of myself that I am not so used to seeing; my back. After spending multiple weeks completing this piece, I had more time to look at my back than I ever had before. It had me considering the different sides of myself that only other people can see (which applies physically as well as emotionally). I also considered in this piece what exactly the limits of self-portraiture are. Self-portraits that I have done in the past have always followed the same format of just my face, clear and easy to see. But without a face, a self-portrait raises as many questions for its viewers as it answers. It makes them wonder what is being hidden, what is behind the scenes as much as what is shown. Having that bit of mystery also creates a sense of privacy for me as the artist, as though I am facing away from the audience by turning my back towards them. These aspects make this piece both very vulnerable and protective at the same time. Vulnerable in that i am putting a part of myself on display that even I am not used to seeing, as well as protective because of the fact that my face and features are hidden from view.

This painting is a physical manifestation of a recurring image in my head. I wanted to communicate this feeling of internal evil, with taboo imagery of the snake being suppressed by the feminine image of the pink ribbon. The portrait speaks to my complicated relationship with my own femininity as a queer person.

This self portrait was influenced by David Hockney drawings and Renaissance portraiture.

This work is inspired by the city of San Francisco.

"San Francisco at Night" is painted in acrylic.

Saccharine Intoxication is inspired by the opium poppy.

My depiction of the virgin of Guadeloupe.

This artwork illustrates my cultural identity.

A tall painting with 3 animal heads and the word “Resident”.

This art piece is a remembrance project, I chose my aunt's dog Kona that I was very close with.

I created this piece with charcoal, depicting Amy Winehouse photographed at the Brit Awards in 2007.

My artwork "Recuerda en Flores" portrays a skeleton head surrounded by four vibrant flowers, This artwork is inspired by the holiday Dia de los Muertos.