Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Taekyung(tk) Suh. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Taekyung(TK), appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

The moment I knew I wanted to pursue art professionally came shortly after I moved from South Korea to Chicago. It was a tough transition, and I was needed to adjust myself to a new life in a new country. I struggled with the language, unsure of how to express myself or connect with others. To find belonging, I followed some classmates to an art class. What started as an effort to fit in quickly became something much more profound.

In that art class, I discovered a sense of freedom I hadn’t felt before. When I was creating, I didn’t have to speak the right words—art itself became my voice. It allowed me to communicate emotions and thoughts in a way that transcended language and culture. I realized art was about more than just self-expression; it was a universal language that could help build authentic connections and allow others feel what I couldn’t put into words.

This understanding deepened in 2021, during my first solo exhibition, Boogie Nights, at Gallery LVS in South Korea. Through the exhibition, I showed paintings about my impressions of returning to Seoul after my studies in Chicago. It was my first significant opportunity in my home country to share my work on my own terms, and it was transformative. Sharing my work with an audience, explaining my ideas, and even selling paintings became validation to me. It proved that the passion I had for art could resonate with others and become an actual profession rather than a personal outlet. It was especially meaningful because I hadn’t been formally trained art in Korea, yet my works resonated with people. It was a true reminder that art was the universal language that could connect across boundaries.

Inspired by that experience, I committed to refining my skills, which eventually brought me to New York, where I continue to live and work today. What began as a naïve way to navigate loneliness in an unfamiliar country grew into a lifelong pursuit and a means to communicate, connect, and create meaning for myself and others.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Taekyung (TK) Suh. I’m a painter originally from Seoul, South Korea, now based in Queens, NY.

My journey into art has been shaped by a mix of diverse experiences. After moving to Chicago for high school, I earned a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In between, I returned to Korea to serve in the South Korean Navy for two years and worked as a curator at a gallery in Seoul. Though life took me on a few detours, I persistently kept my passion for continuing art. I eventually returned to the U.S. and completed my MFA at Columbia University, where I refined my practice and vision as an artist.

My work focuses on oil painting inspired by personal experiences and emotions. I paint puzzling images as metaphors for feelings, weaving narratives that provoke a sense of absurdity and imagination. For me, painting is less about creating a fixed statement and more about engaging in a dialogue. I approach each canvas as a conversation, using improvisational brushstrokes, bold applications of color, scraping techniques, and even rotating the canvas as I work. These techniques allow the process itself to bear traces of emotion and spontaneity, resulting in works that feel open-ended and alive.

What sets my work apart is its emphasis on process and storytelling. My paintings invite viewers to interpret, imagine, and evolve in their own way. In this approach, I reject the idea of painting as a static medium by inviting stranger to join the conversation and work together.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is transforming deeply personal experiences and memories into something that resonates with others. It’s incredible to see how something so intimate, and individual can become a universal source of empathy or inspiration.

Take Vincent Van Gogh’s Bedroom in Arles, for instance. The painting simply depicts his room—filled with everyday objects like a chair, a bed, and a few paintings on the wall. Yet, that deeply personal and mundane subject continues to move people across time and cultures, without the need for words.

I believe true authenticity in art comes from engaging with what’s most personal. As artists, we have the unique privilege of turning our inner worlds into something that can connect with others in profound and timeless ways.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

“Follow your heart and face the unfamiliar with courage.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tksuh.com
• Instagram: tk_50h

Image Credits

Will Chen and Yulim Heo