About Me

Copy of On The National Mall with mother and sister

Copy of With father at the National Arboretum

Copy of Visiting the Great Awakening sculpture

Copy of Inside childhood home on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC

As a young girl, growing up in DC, my sisters and I would frequent the Smithsonian museums where we would spend time relishing and lingering in front of noteworthy and inspiring works in the Freer and Sackler, National Gallery of Art and Portrait Gallery. I was exposed to famous works of art at a young age. Some resonating pieces include works by James McNeill Whistler’s "Peacock Room” and Nam June Paik’s “Electronic Superhighway”.

For the first 17 years of my life, I experienced the world with only near sighted vision. I became accustomed to using the digital camera resourcefully, often as a magnifying glass to see. I took my camera everywhere with me and it quickly became my lifeline. It is my preference to see directly through the lens and I adopted this shooting method very early on. I like to use the camera as a tool to explore details and show segmented parts of a larger picture. I also like to view each photo I take as a singular work, however also as apart of larger collections, representing larger ideas. Some themes that I continuously discover and rediscover include the immortality of florals, motion at night, animals in flight, dreams, nostalgia and romance. I also like to experiment with the crossing of stylistic and compositional elements such as symmetry, pattern, light, shadow and contrast. I will constantly explore colors and textures, showing how they interact, where they intersect and how they complement one another. I am partial to a color palette that includes cool, blue hues, light purple and pink combinations, warm golden shades and also bold, neon tones against a dark black backgrounds.

My father, an independent filmmaker has always used parts of our family home as a set or storage for props and equipment. And thankfully so, because cameras were always available, there was never a shortage of computers around the house, batteries and memory chips were always ready to go. My mother, on the other hand dedicated herself to documenting every moment of our childhood and because of her, our family has a large archive of photo albums and memories to last us a lifetime. These printed photographs were often sent overseas to connect with family I’d never met until I began spending many summers abroad to learn more about my Asian culture and heritage. From the scenic views of Sun Moon Lake and the night-markets in Taiwan, to the futuristic Shanghai skyline, the sensory overload I experienced due to all of the sightseeing, food and culture was majorly overwhelming - but in a good way. One summer in Taipei, during a long car ride, boredom led me to experiment with the long exposure dials on my 16 megapixel Panasonic point and shoot. The neon lights from the signs on the highway recorded onto my sensor and as the images played back on the viewfinder, my eyes suddenly opened to a whole new world of possibilities in which creativity can be intertwined with photography.

As a photographer, I consider myself to be self taught, although I have completed college level course work in digital photography, visual fundamentals and color theory. In order to maintain purity in my creations, I continue to be self taught today - by constantly experimenting, researching, practicing and combining new and old techniques alike. I tend to draw inspiration for visual projects from other mediums like literature, poetry and music. I am also influenced by the elements of classic paintings, film and cinematography. As a formal student of English Literature, I studied classic authors like Edith Wharton, Henry James, Kate Chopin and Isabelle Allende. Particular themes from these timeless classics have stuck with me along the way, becoming truly embedded into my heart and soul. From these works are the motifs and themes that can be seen visually interpreted, repeated and represented throughout my entire body of work.

Digital photography is of second nature to me, so of course without hesitation it's my primary medium of choice. Most recently, I’ve begun to develop my very own art style by combining different mediums to create mixed media pieces. I like to add elements of pleasant surprise by sourcing and combining materials to create unexpected, yet complementary pairings. My work ranges from macro views of nature and animals to abstract creations, to huge vistas of skycapes, nightscapes, landscapes and cityscapes. Each and every one of my pieces goes through a generative process in which experimental photography techniques, conceptual ideas, and layers of graphic elements and textures are combined intentionally and unintentionally to create a work of art that is truly one of a kind.

I find inspiration from everyday life, through my imagination, love of animals and the outdoors. My belief is that nothing is simply just ordinary and we can use different perspectives to find interest and beauty in anything. With more than enough evil and ugly in the world, I will continue to produce images that promote peace, beauty and good energy. I aim to capture spirits, illustrate romance and embody passion. Entirely devoted to my craft, I pour my soul into my work. A Washington, DC native, I currently live and work in Philadelphia, PA.