I have always known that I am a painter at heart, although I have taken a circuitous path to arrive at where I am today. First thing I remember about my childhood in South Korea is how I loved to draw and color things, even on the kitchen walls. Growing up there, I also took calligraphy lessons and the years of calligraphy training has had an indelible influence on my paintings. After moving to the U.S. as a teenager, instead of going straight to an art school, I chose to study science in college because I had intense curiosity about how this Universe works at a molecular, atomic level. I enjoyed most of the science courses, but found the approach too reductionist. I, then, sought to understand the world in more integrated terms. That led to a 28-year-career in finance. While I was working as an investment manager full time, I was a weekend painter, studying abstract art at the Art Students League. Now, I have finally come full circle: I discontinued my finance career to paint full time. I find that my work is a necessary product of the life I have lived so far and the journey I have taken to become an artist. Naturally, what I would like to say as an artist is deeply informed by this journey.
Education/Background:
The Art Students League, New York, NY: 1997 — Present
Chartered Financial Analyst, CFA: 1997
Harvard University, A.B. Biochemical Sciences: 1992
Thesis: Cloning of a Putative Gene, Which Transports an Invertebrate Neurotransmitter.
