I AM KOREAN AMERICAN

Own Words

I spent the greater part of my young life denying my Korean-ness. As an artist I started out striving to create things that where universal, and focused on works that I considered “mainstream” (i.e. all things European). But the more I worked the more I realized that in order to be “universal” as an artist, I needed to be much more “specific”. I had to tap into the parts of me that I had denied for so long. In order for me to “be” more universal, I had to look into my roots, I had to understand all the things that made me who I am.

I cannot deny my ethnicity, I wear it everyday. Not simply on my face, but in the mannerisms and attitudes that have been handed down to me from generations and generations. I am a product of my parents as they are a product of their parents. And if I denied that, I show only a part of myself.

I spent the greater part of my adult life diving into my Korean AND Asian American-ness. Working in and with other Asian American and Korean American artists. I crisscrossed the country as an Artistic Director; from Boston to San Diego to Seattle and then finally to Los Angeles. I managed to work with some of the best and brightest Korean American and Asian American artists around.

Now, as I prepare to close out my theater company in Los Angeles (Lodestone Theatre Ensemble) after 10 prosperous years, I find I’m at a cross roads. I can no longer deny who I am, but, now, I realize that my Korean-ness is only a part of me. I’ve come full circle. Back again on my journey to tell the universal story, but this time with all the knowledge of who I am and where I come from.

I hope the new stories I tell, have all the parts of me. I hope they encompass all the things that make me Korean AND American, all the things that make me human, and, maybe make a few people laugh along the way.