Matrescence
48” diameter
Oil, sequins, beads, paper, artist's hair, passport, Korean chess pieces, bottle caps, magazine cutouts, paint caps on wood
2026
Matrescence is about motherhood, ancestral cycles, and finally finding my voice. Drawing on classical European imagery of Mother Mary, the piece centers on the intimate act of breastfeeding my baby. Having lost my own mother at a young age, this moment represents a full circle for me. By being fully present for my child, I am breaking a cycle of maternal absence.
The surrounding Korean folk mountains shape-shift to form the face of Sungmo, the native mother mountain deity intertwined with figures inspired by traditional American tattoo-style "bend back girls." I wanted to take these traditionally sexualized forms and turn them into a symbol of maternal strength instead, layering the faces of my mother and grandmother onto my own bending body to show the turning wheel of family history.
At the same time, the painting is about unblocking my throat chakra to express emotions I've suppressed for a long time. This is symbolized by the Hindu serpent associated with Shiva, which wraps around the neck like a parasite-like blockage. My process becomes a safe place to actually feel and move through anger.
Twinkle Twinkle
Oil, glitter, sequins, nail polish, fabric on canvas + wood and air dry clay
48 x 36.5”
2026
Mom's Coming 'Round To Put It Back The Way It Ought To Be
Oil and collage (discarded trash, dried old paint, beads, magazine cut outs, origami, rice paper, sticker, wood) on canvas
32×32”
2026
Collected by the Hawai’i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts
Instead of throwing my junk mail away, I've started treating it like a source of guidance. I pull out random words and phrases to find unexpected meanings, almost like drawing a tarot card from a pile of consumerist noise. My paintings are made from these discarded pieces: scraps of paper, dried paint peeled from my palette, and objects that carry their own past lives.
Reusing everything is a family trait. My grandmother lived through wartime scarcity in Korea, and I still remember her using cooked rice as glue for my school projects. That DNA runs through my entire practice.
Right now, I'm thinking a lot about caretaking as a way to build a future. Bringing a child into today's world can feel overwhelming, but for me, it’s a radical act of hope—a bet that the "end" of things is actually a turning point. Many of these pieces are translated straight from my dreams, including a full-circle rainbow that felt like a moment of alignment. It represented a huge shift in my life: letting go of the need to carry other’s anxieties. These paintings are a way of building safety on the inside when the outside world feels unstable. It's how I'm breaking old cycles and rewriting the history of the women in my family.
‘To Be In The World, Not Of It’ is about living in the world without letting it consume you. These pieces explore the contrast between our physical reality and our spiritual lives. It’s about being fully here, but keeping your eyes on something deeper.
The Rest On The Flight Into The Unknown
Oil on canvas
28x22”
2025
Painted after “The Rest on the Flight into Egypt” by Gerard David, I've been thinking a lot about what kind of environment my baby is going to grow up in as a first time mom. Where our future is headed and how it feels so vulnerable and exposed to raise a child in these current times. Some things I reference in this painting are the invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle and the Ko’olau mountain range. Construction of tall condos obstructing our view of nature have also been something I’ve been painting a lot of as Hawaii, the home I grew up in, is being further gentrified and locals are forced to leave the island. The figures are myself and my baby Nova taking our first nap together in the hospital just after he was born. My breast and underwear are slightly exposed and it is a very intimate but vulnerable moment and the interior of the hospital is swallowed by the forces outside.
This Is Fine
Oil on canvas
24x18”
2025
Tiger and Myna at Hobby Lobby
Acrylic and oil on canvas
24x18”
2025
This piece is based on the Korean folk art tiger. Unlike classical literati art, which was imported from China and Japan for the educated elite, "minhwa" was painted by commoners. I’ve always been drawn to folk art because it’s just so raw and soulful; especially the tiger, Korea’s national animal. Its wild, crazy expression shows up all over Korean folklore in stories for both kids and adults.
Here, I’m using the tiger to represent myself as a new mom, leaking breast milk in the middle of Hobby Lobby. The overhead LED lights turn into rays beaming out of the tiger’s halo, and the myna bird—which is invasive here in Hawaii—represents adaptation.
Right after I gave birth, the constant barrage of consumerist noise from social media algorithms really messed with me. It fed on my insecurities and made me feel like I lacked everything I needed to keep my baby alive and well. Looking back, I see it for what it was: a predatory trick aimed at vulnerable, first-time moms who are just trying to figure things out. The religious items stocked on the store shelves speak to that struggle of trying to find something deeply spiritual within a hyper-capitalistic world.
3rd Attempt at Calling DOH For my Food Stamps Interview
30x40”
Oil on canvas
2025
“3rd Attempt at Calling DOH For my Food Stamps Interview”, is a scene based off of a real moment in my life where I was doing just what the title describes. My baby is running around flinging toys everywhere, my cat is pissed, and the most annoying tune is playing as we wait and wait and wait for someone to pick up. My husband and I are painted with the inspiration of Korean traditional wooden masks. These masks were used by the poor in old Korea to relieve their grievances of their oppression from the rich in a legal way as it’s under the act of performance. I wanted us to also look large and like deities as I believe we all possess the divine and evil within us. In real life when this scene happened, I bursted out laughing at one point because it’s better to laugh at the situation then get mad as it’s all about perspective. Other relatives are a part of the room as well as if they are watching over me and we are all connected.
Mommy and Baby on Great Grandma’s Lanai
18x24”
Oil on canvas
2025
Our Baby Is Born
Watercolor, acrylic, oil and collage on yupo paper
32×51”
2024
Ambush
12x16” acrylic on canvas
2024
After a full night of feeding the baby, rolling over from one boob to the other, the sunlight starts to creep in as we stir awake and get our morning cuddles in; Mommy, Daddy and Baby. Baby's hands pinching my chest while mommy cradles him, daddy moves his hands to grab baby and holds my arm instead, all of our limbs entangled and twisting in an important love language for baby: touch.
Divine Suspension is my first series created postpartum which includes over 20 new paintings. With an emphasis on the process of painting in intervals as my baby is playing or napping while I paint and then calls for me as he needs, the painting is left in suspension and purposefully left in place on the painting. The parental roles of the divine masculine and divine feminine are presented in the works which are also embedded in the process as I invite the interruption to my painting flow as a practice in the divine and unconditional love rather than a hindrance. The Divine Suspensionseries is essentially an amalgamation about everything I love right now: My family, toys, my jealous cat Cry Baby, butts, boobies and more.
Sucker
Acrylic on canvas
8x10”
2024