My Childhood nickname was "a girl with light hands".
Unlike other kids, I was happier when crafting and drawing things, rather than running on a playground. Every corner of the poor neighborhood of the rural area, which was full of grass and wild flowers, became my canvas in the old days. I remember I was always creating something new with things I could easily get in the nature, such as rocks, sticks, and flowers.
I believe in those memories of making the hand-made toys out of the natural materials have been shaping my identity as an artist until these days. I follow and accept the ways of life as an artist and think it as my reason for living. Being an artist is what I'm most capable of and giving me a huge amount of pleasure than any other things.
It was my mother who had the genuine artistic taste, she was exceptionally good at making clothes and cooking. Since I didn't have a father from my very young age, she took the biggest part of my life dominating me like a god in somewhat abnormal ways. She wasn't happy with my artistic talents and distracted me every time I was expressing my energies as a prospective artist. Therefore, I had to achieve my goal to study art in college by myself without her warm support. However, after I got my BA in Fine Art, I was still wandering around lacking an answer to myself as a real artist so decided to be an art teacher, getting MA in Art Education.
In 2000, I finally started to show and express myself through vibrant communications with many groups and artists and began participating in group exhibitions. I have gained confidence in my value as a real artist by using the Korean traditional paper called Hanji and Chinese ink. It was such a monumental discovery for myself. Since then, painting and drawing became so enjoyable and I could feel that I was wearing a perfect fit.
Especially, the concept of Marilyn Monroe surrounded by Korean traditional good luck symbols such as tiger, Korean national flowers and birds, etc, has been excited me for years and interestingly, the particular style became my signature. I personally adores Marilyn Monroe and her life. In my opinion it was somehow fortunate that her image was stopped at the most beautiful moment of her life. We still think of her through the forms of art, music, writing, cartoon, and in many other ways. However, the public often forgets about her being as a true artist.
One of my favorite quotes by Monroe is, "Millions of people live their entire lives without finding themselves. But it is something I must do." I realized that she was worrying about her dignity as a mere individual than any other person was. I feel very close to her feeling of emptiness and it is the reason why I put her at the center of my painting each time and surround her with the good luck symbols of Korea, comforting her in our Korean traditional ways. I think anyone can be flourished like Monroe and feeling emptiness at the same time. I hope I can bring good fortunes to the people through my paintings of Monroe.