Who Am I

My creative process is intuitive and emerges without a rigid framework or planning. I work from my imagination, but I often reimagine experiences of everyday life, nature, human relationships, the perspectives of immigrants, and my origins. These musings have led me to traditional Korean materials like sumi ink and rice paper, which I apply in non-traditional ways.Because I have little formal training, I have the sensation that each painting marks the beginning of a new creative process, and I am constantly starting from scratch, perpetually the beginner.I have no expectations for any given work. Instead, I inhabit the work from moment to moment; it is physical, emotional, personal, and unexpected. For example, I may start a piece by building from a single color. Each new mark responds to the one before it and guides the next one. As the marks build up, with some erased or replaced, somehow, miraculously, my painting emerges.The act of creation is God’s work, and we human beings are drawn to create in imitation of the Creator. Art has never been far from my life, and my work in many ways reflects the unplanned, surprising directions my life has taken. The unpredictable and unpredicted way in which I approach art-making has marked the course of my life: one day, one decision, one mark on the canvas at a time, unsure of who I am or who I am supposed to be, where I am supposed to go or where I am going.My disorientation is a surrender and a reflection of my faith. As I move through each day and make each mark, I anticipate the final mark of the Creator, which completes my life as I complete my painting.

heajungart@gmail.com