My oil paintings are drawn from the memories of - and longing for - food and experiences of my childhood in Korea. Many of my paintings have been of kimchi, a Korean side dish made of brined and fermented vegetables, primarily napa cabbage. Of the many vegetables kimchi can be made from, I took particular interest in napa cabbage due to its color and striped form. I cannot easily describe the magnitude of kimchi’s presence in Korean culture. It’s not rare to find “rise in cost of napa cabbage” get more airtime than “stock market dive” on the evening news. My works elevate this seemingly mundane vegetable, possibly to honor the strength it has given the Korean people.

 

Alongside Visual Art, I study Applied Math, with an interest in computational neuroscience. I consider my painting process akin to mathematical modelling, in that the subject to be investigated is too complex to simulate in exact detail, leaving one to choose - with intuition and experience - a few characteristics of interest. In my paintings, I’ve taken interest in the half-cut cabbage’s core, striations and leafy exterior. I often abstract the vegetable to a point where it may be unrecognizable to those unfamiliar with this Korean staple, leaving them to appreciate the subject’s lines and colors.

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