Movement, the law of cause and effect suggests that the universe is always in motion, is at the core of my representational abstract work. It's the driving force that engages me to move my brushes until the potential speaks to me and leads me to what it wants to represent.It starts out with several layers of medium and then subtraction, and then more addition, scratching, sanding, and refining. Unlike academic artists, I start with no sketches. The potential design and composition speaks to me after a good night's rest when the world around me is asleep. This is the moment when my imagination is vividly working—awake with my eyes closed. My meditative work is a long process. Each painting is a whole experience to itself that makes my work unique, truly one of a kind that even I myself cannot replicate. My design and composition reveals my influences growing up. I was surrounded by a huge family of chemists, biologists, and engineers, who loved singing and dancing. I myself was an Architect.
As an elementary schoolgirl, I was in awe of my grandfather. He made a pantograph (a mechanical drafting tool with linkage of arms for enlarging drawings) from scratch and showed me how it worked. While my tour of a Coca Cola manufacturing plant, where I saw conveyor belts, its moving parts, and the bottling process, molded my interest in physics and engineering. This also paved way towards my fascination in Rube Goldberg, which always makes its way to my work.Unknowingly and naturally, I am a gifted artist. In middle school, I won first place in an art competition that I had no intention of joining. My painting was stolen the night of the exhibition. Most of my schoolwork was consistently displayed during school open houses. A parent had commented, “This looks like Irene’s gallery.”
I pursued a degree in Bachelors of Science in Chemistry, combining my interest in Art and Science. It didn’t take long for my teacher to share, "Irene's free flow abstract art design is a dangerous concept when mixing chemicals, and that the weighing scales are not to be used for weighing your shoes and comparing with classmates." Needless to say, I failed my science laboratory work for goofing off. It was an explosion of my artistic mind!I switched to a Bachelors of Science in Architecture, got certified, and then continued studies in Project Management. My entire career involved engineering and architecture, and exposure to various building industry disciplines. This led to decades of sabbaticals from art.
I chose an early retirement after a successful career and at the beginning of my marriage. I celebrated retirement by painting a mural in my own home. This flourished quickly like wildfire into a full-time mural business in my neighborhood. All it took was a dozen homemade business cards and a few gallons of house paint, and then neighbors heard the buzz words like bees. Within half a year, my husband was offered a job in Santa Barbara. It was too good to refuse so I had to finish my last mural commissioned by an interior designer in between packing. I finished, packed the ladder, and the morning after, left the Bay Area for good.In Santa Barbara, I founded a nonprofit corporation teaching Architecture, Engineering, and City Planning to children through summer camps. I had collaborations with the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara, where I also served the board. After ten years and having taught hundreds of children the Art and Science of Architecture, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Closing business in 2020 was inevitable, but quarantining opened another opportunity for me. Like the law of cause and effect, I am never Idle.
I self-studied painting and took classes with a Santa Barbara prominent local artist Thomas Van Stein in between teaching summer classes. My painting “Half Under Water” was shown to the class to demonstrate the concept and application of Golden Ratio. I had completed this painting before the lesson was taught.During the pandemic, I also enrolled in The Creative Visionary Program ran by Nicholas Wilton, a Prominent California Artist based in Sausalito. This was an intensive three-month program that shifted my art and frame of mind to go bold in the fine arts world. So the fun of painting began!In reading my work, you will see a reflection of my fun and educational childhood—my goofiness, my fascination in Rube Goldberg, my background in architecture and engineering, and my passion for working with children as I replay my own childhood. I feel the genuine support of my wonderful husband Matt, loving daughter Zhansu, and my close family and friends .