We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Oneyung Kim. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Oneyung below.

Oneyung, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?

When I was studying painting in San Francisco, I started posting some of my old still-life studies online -simple class assignments I’d made for midterms or finals. At that time, I wasn’t expecting anything; I just needed to let go of a few works and thought it might be fun to see what would happen.

One day, someone in Portugal wanted to buy one of my small still lifes for about $100. That was my very first sale. Later, a few portrait studies also found new homes.

It wasn’t a big amount of money, but that moment changed something in me. The idea that someone, far away, valued my painting enough to pay for it gave me a deep sense of validation and quiet confidence. It was the first time I realized that my work could live beyond my studio, that it could connect with someone I had never met.

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?

I’m a Korean-born, Seattle-based visual artist exploring memory, emotion, and human connection through expressive oil paintings. Working primarily on wood panels and canvas, I use layered textures, palette knives, and oil sticks to capture traces of gesture and revision — the imperfect process of remembering.

My background in drama and poetry shapes how I see the human figure: as a living story rather than a static image. My paintings often blur faces or eyes, reflecting the complexity of identity and the distance between people.

I’m currently part of the Shunpike Storefronts & Artist Residencies program in downtown Seattle. What sets my work apart is its emotional honesty and focus on women and minorities whose stories of resilience and tenderness often go unseen. I hope my paintings invite viewers to recognize something deeply human — fragile, flawed, and real.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I had been working nonstop since I was twenty-even while attending university- and for many years I believed that constant productivity defined purpose. But around thirty, I reached a point of exhaustion. I quit my job, used my savings, and moved to the U.S. simply to pause and reassess my life.

That pause became a turning point. In San Francisco, I began studying painting, something I had always longed to do but never allowed myself. It was both disorienting and freeing to start over as an adult, to learn how to see and think differently.

Living in the U.S., especially in a city as progressive as San Francisco, challenged many of my assumptions. Coming from a more conservative culture, I was confronted with a society that valued individuality and openness. It broadened my perspective, taught me to respect difference, and ultimately deepened my understanding of people.

That shift in values continues to shape my creative practice today. My work has become less about perfection or approval, and more about empathy, honesty, and the complexity of being human.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding part of being an artist is realizing how much the work changes me. Each painting teaches me something new about patience, vulnerability, and the beauty of imperfection. Creating art forces me to face myself honestly, and it humbles me while giving me a deep sense of freedom.

Art gives me a kind of freedom that few other paths allow, the freedom to fail, to question, and to rebuild. Through that process I’ve learned that growth doesn’t come from control or certainty, but from staying open to what is unknown. That continuous act of becoming, both as an artist and as a human being, is what makes this life profoundly rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://oneyung.com
• Instagram: @oneyung_art

Image Credits

Ethan Chiem, Daehi Kim