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I am deeply drawn to the process of making art—the stories behind the work, the hands that shape it, and the quiet persistence that connects past and present. Rather than focusing solely on finished outcomes, I am fascinated by the accumulated time, emotion, and memory embedded in the act of making.
My practice begins with jogakbo, traditional Korean patchwork wrapping cloth. Jogakbo is composed of scraps of traditional silk, hand-stitched into a harmonious whole. Historically, it was created by women who lived within the confines of the women's quarters—often unable to move freely in society. Through needle and thread, they expressed their desires and dreams in silence. When I encounter these anonymous textile pieces, I feel a deep kinship with the invisible emotions and hopes sewn into each square. I bring their hand-stitching techniques and antique fabrics into my own work, imagining their lives and dreams while sewing my own thoughts into each piece.
The lines, colors, and balance created by joining fabric to fabric are not merely formal elements—they are carefully considered outcomes that symbolically express my themes. Each piece of fabric reflects fragments of my memory, experience, and emotion, as well as scenes and people I have encountered in life. Their combination becomes an attempt to move beyond craft and speak in the language of contemporary art.
In today’s world, technology rapidly transforms how art is made, shared, and consumed. With a single click, countless images are generated and just as quickly forgotten. In contrast, I deliberately embrace the slow, labor-intensive process of hand-stitching. This tactile engagement with fabric is a way of reclaiming emotion, materiality, and time—sensibilities that are increasingly disappearing in our digitally driven society.
My work exists within this tension between technological efficiency and sensory depth, searching for new possibilities of art that can emerge in the space between.
Textile, for me, is not a substitute for pigment or pencil—it is a means of world-building. It allows me to construct new forms of life that embody what it means to live between two cultures, two identities, and two histories. Much like jogakbo, where disparate pieces come together to form one, the act of stitching is a symbolic gesture of integration—of emotion, memory, and experience.
Aristotle once said, “We become what we repeatedly do.” Through the repeated act of touching, stitching, and assembling fabric, material transforms into mind. The accumulated time and touch become part of myself. In this way, my process is not only about making—it becomes healing, reflection, and an intimate dialogue with the self.
Though rooted in tradition, my work does not remain in the past. It evolves through questions shaped by the present and my lived experiences. I continue to explore new forms and narratives that challenge the boundaries between craft and art, between technology and emotion.
Each piece is a sewn story—connecting past, present, and future—and a quiet proposal for what art can mean in an age defined by speed and surface.
Works in Public Collections
Dialogue Now and Then, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco CA
Embroidery Picture Book, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco CA
Secret Window, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco CA
San Francisco, the Peninsula, The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
The White Cloth Clad, San Francisco Korean American Museum, Oakland, CA
The Armful of Five Cardinal Colors, San Francisco Korean American Museum, Oakland, CA
Drawing Home, The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Korean Roof, Korean Community Center, Tenafly, NJ
Special Exhibition
Aug, 2024 – May, 2025 “Curated Collection" "적재" , Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Jun, 2023 – July, 2023 “SIKGU” 식구" , Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
March, 2022 – September, 2022 “Dialogue Now and Then”, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
August, 2018 – September, 2018 “Dwelling in Between”, The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
August, 2016 – May, 2017 “Secret Window”, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Permanent Exhibition
April. 2019 ~ present "The White Cloth Clad", San Francisco Korean American Museum, Oakland, CA
"The Armful of Five Cardinal Colors", San Francisco Korean American Museum, Oakland, CA
October, 2018 ~ present "Drawing Home", The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
October, 2015 ~ present "San Francisco, the Peninsula”, The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022 "The Island Across the Sea", Art Book Original Exhibition, B-Platform Art Book Lounge and Gallery, Seoul. Korea
2011 “Out of Square”, KCC Gallery, Englewood, NJ
2008 “Silk and Thread”, Lotte Culture Center, Suji, Korea
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 "Bojagi Journey", Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Art Museum, La Conner, WA
2022 "Brand 50", Brand Library & Art Center, Glendale, CA
"All Media", Irvine Fine Art Center, Irvine, CA
"Ewha Quilt", Ewha Art Center, Seoul, Korea
2021 "My American Experience", O'hanlon Center for the Art, Online Exhibition, Mill Valley, CA
2019 "Ewha Quilt", Ewha Art Center, Seoul, Korea
"51st Anual Textile Exhibition", Olive Hyde Art Gallery, Fremont, CA
"Geon Gon Gam Ri, Beyond the Distance", San Ramon City Hall Gallery, San Ramon, CA
2018 "East – West Conversations in Fiber”, Sierra Arts Gallery, Reno, NV
"Ewha Quilt", Ewha Art Center, Seoul, Korea
2017 “In-Between Places: Korean American Artist in the Bay Area”, Mills College Art Museum, Oakland, CA
2015 “Exhibition for the Inauguration of SF Korean American Museum”, Hankook-ilbo Culture Center, Group, Oakland, CA
“The 47th Annual Textile Exhibition”, Olive Hyde Art Gallery, Fremont, CA
2013 “Olive Hyde Art Guild Members’ Juried Show”, Olive Hyde Art Gallery, Fremont, CA
2009 “Out of the Ordinary”, Kyung-in Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
2008 “Herald Korean Art & Culture Festival”, Selected Collection, Korea Herald Media, Seoul, Korea
2007 “Needle Scent”, Jewelry Center Art Gallery, Seoul, Korea
“Herald Korean Art & Culture Festival”, Selected Collection, Korea Herald Media, Seoul, Korea
2006 “Silk Craft”, Samsung Plaza Culture Center, Bundang, Korea
Experience in curating exhibitions
2025
"차려드림" "Sincere Offerings: A Table Set with Absence" Sammy Seung-Min Lee Solo Exhibition
Curator
The Green Art Gallery, Buena Park, CA
2020
"같고 다르게" "Same, Differently, Together"
K- Exhibition advisory committee member
The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
2019
"보자기, 종이를 만나다"
K- Exhibition advisory committee member
The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
2019
"꿈꾸는 현실에서" "Dreamed Reality"
K- Exhibition advisory committee member
The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
2019
"그로부터 100 년"
K- Exhibition advisory committee member
The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
2019
"오래된 미래" "Newtro"
Curator
San Francisco Korean American Museum, Oakland, CA
2018
"바느질로 그리다" "Stitching and Longing"
Curator
The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco,
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