New Artist Website

Hello World! This is my new artist website. I have big hopes and lots of ideas attached to the creation of this website, which will be the primary way for me to showcase my art work and develop a career as an emerging artist.

Uhmm okay... Who are you?

Hi! :D My name is Serafina and I'm a social justice worker who is trying to make a difference in the world in the best way that she sees how. After having worn many hats through a career as a public accountant, an activist, and a social worker, I've come to the conclusion that justice needs to be delivered both with beauty and hope. It cannot stand alone as an objective and be sustainable in the long-term, because we're human beings. But this complexity about humanity is also what makes the process all the more challenging and fascinating. So now I am working as an illustrator. So far, I love it!

Wow, okay. I have a lot of questions.

Yes, questioning is always an objectively good thing to do.

How is it that you think that the best way to make this world a better place is to make art? More than being a social worker?

All the social problems that our society faces are long-term projects that were built up over decades, even centuries since nations are born. They are not only long-term, but incredibly complex and require a lot of people to come together and resolve them together. There is nothing more powerful than a good idea to motivate any free individual to do anything, or even feel anything. Art is an expression of ideas. I hope that my art will encourage others to see, feel, introspect, connect, reach, and transform in a way they had never done before. Have you heard about how Keanu Reeves acts in his movies with the intention to save lives (see this video at the 1:04 mark)? There are people all around us at the edge of life and death because the right ideas haven't reached them, or haven't reached them in such a way that they will take it in.

Ok, cool. So how are you going to do that?

I have tons of ideas -- ideas for execution, ideas for further questioning and exploring.

I think that my understanding of the environment and context that I live and operate in, which is currently the United States, more specifically deep in Brooklyn, provide a crucial foundation that feed into how I go about choosing the subjects and styles that I do, the process of creation, and the presentation of it. Having lived experience as Korean-American immigrant woman in this country who was once undocumented plays the most important part of that understanding. My Master of Social Work program provided a great structural and historical complement to that understanding and filled in a little the shapes and forms of systemic oppression that I was not as familiar with.

Let's talk about art. What is your art style?

That is precisely why I created this website! Since I decided to take art as a craft seriously, among subjects, I was immediately attracted to portraits. I find people as subjects immensely gratifying, and the process to draw what I see to be relieving. Among illustration tools, currently, I am mostly focused on graphite and charcoal for sketches and drawings, and watercolor for paintings. I love the softness and translucence of watercolor.

I also make comics, both by hand and on my old iPad Air.

I'm only just beginning for now, so I look forward to exploring different ways of visual expression as far my mind, heart, and body allow until I can explore no more. There will be a lot more progression coming forth (and if anything like it has been so far, very quickly)!

Ok, I'll disappear back to the back of your brain now.