Some photos of me in the wild

There is something so inherently beautiful about the natural world. I like to work in it and with it when focusing on visual art projects.

In music and writing, I also tend incorporate natural imagery. Since I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, these are the landscapes I've come to know as home.

I was adopted from Vietnam at eight months old and raised in Portland, Oregon, where I studied Chinese in an immersion school. Over time, I grew interested in the culture of my surroundings, immersing myself in the vibrant art scenes of music and poetry in a city that nurtured an independent youth.

I went on to study disciplines in college rooted in western perspectives: philosophy, literature, sociology, mythology, art history, and the arts themselves. These interests took me to France where I traveled and studied in various cities and towns. The work of the existentialists fascinated me as well as those of the impressionists, helping me develop a greater understanding of artistry and the role of creativity in human life.

Since college, I have "lived as an artist", visiting the mountains often, collaborating with musicians, developing my crafts in photography, design, writing – and working all the while as a caregiver for retired teachers and fellow artists in their older years.