I had fun drawing this.

Everything is art, and art is everything to me. I find art in the mundane, in the shattered glass downtown and in my neighbor’s bright tulips. I create because it makes me feel a deep sense of pride, like I’ve done something meaningful, even if it’s simply drawing in my sketchbook. I’m inspired by my past creations and by highly creative people in my life: my mom, teachers, and my cousin Vee. I was inspired to create this shelf because I wanted a way to display my small art works, and what better way to do that than to build a piece of furniture that’s a piece of art in and of itself. Made entirely of metal, my stairs shelf is something I’m extremely proud of. It’s 17"x21"x5," and combines creativity (the miniature stairs) with functionality (the shelf). To design it, I used a 3D modeling software called Rhino. I CNC plasma cut my flattened layout on scrap sheet metal (to save resources) and used an electric saw and small shears to cut the steel rod railing. I then bent every piece in exactly the right place to ensure all levels of the staircase lined up when stacked. Finally, I MIG welded everything together (including 32 hand cut steps!) and polished the shelf with an air grinder. I find comfort in the fact that, through art, I’m leaving a little piece of myself out in the world, giving people a glimpse into who I am and the life I’ve created.

Seedlings grow with bumper harvests because of the farmer’s care and efforts. What causes the severe pollution on our beautiful Earth? Concern about the world environment is raised through this painting to show the massive garbage accumulated day by day because of people’s indiscriminate utilization of unfriendly materials in the environment. However, the situation went unnoticed because the garbage was disposed away, making the problem invisible. Just as the garbage presented in this painting looks like seedlings well organized in the farmland, it is hard to be aware that something is wrong. The dark smoke in the sky far behind is unheeded as well because it is dispelled by the wind swiftly, which makes the pollution issue like a stone sinking into the sea. Ignorant human beings don’t honestly face the fact that the massive garbage and the dark smoke cycle back to the environment in which they live would cause irretrievable health damage to themselves and let the Earth turn gray.

This piece describes water pollution, specifically oil spills and how it effects our oceans.

The drawing is of a friend's cat.

This painting summarizes many important characters in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Restoring the battlefield battles of ancient historical figures at that time.

As a visual artist, I am most drawn to portraiture.

This piece is somewhat of an accumulation of what I've been drawing within the last couple of months, as floating castles resting on clouds has been a common occurrence in my math notebooks and such. In recent years, I have become enamored with clouds.

My still life composition shows a man sitting atop a large stone throne.

The girl I drew was Kate Moss, and she represents glamour and impulsivity.

The focal points of my artwork are drawings of my cats.

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.

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.

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.