About the Authors

Seongmin Ahn

Seongmin Ahn received her B.F.A. and M.F.A. in Asian traditional painting from Seoul National University in Seoul Korea and her second M.F.A from Maryland Institute College of Art. With practical experience and a deep understanding of tradition, her work takes Asian traditional painting as a starting point and transforms it into something experimental with her own interpretation bridging tradition and modern, East and West. She is a recipient of the Pollock Krasner Foundation grant and the top prize from AHL Foundation. She has also been reviewed on Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, NY Arts magazine, Baltimore Sun, Plain Dealer, and others. Her national and international exhibitions include solo shows including, but not limited to Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts (Wilmington, DE), Queens College Art Center (Flushing, NY), Gallery Ho (New York, NY), White Wall Gallery (Seoul, Korea) and Gomez Gallery (Baltimore, MD). She also has taught Asian traditional painting at different institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Queens Museum of Art, Art Students League, and Korean Cultural Service.

Katie Bomi Son

CEO & Founder of Project AA * Asian Arts, Katie Bomi Son specializes in art & culture collaboration, branding and contents marketing company for Asian artists based in Asia & New York. She graduated from Seoul National University with B.F.A in Business Administration, Science, and English. While she worked as an enthusiastic marketer at Johnson & Johnson, Katie Bomi Son was selected as a member of World Economic Forum, Global Shapers Community (GSC, since July 2012) in Seoul, Korea. She is also an optometrist, author, volunteer, traveler, blogger, and active lecturer. Her first book The Greatest Selfish Global Volunteer Trips (세상에서 가장 이기적인 봉사여행, 2011) is a book about her experience in traveling around 25 countries and volunteering in 6 countries. Her most recent book, New York Artists (뉴욕 아티스트, 2014), is a story about meeting and interviewing more than 100 people in the art industry, especially in New York City. As a passionate supporter of the global art & culture, healthcare, and youth sides of development, Katie Bomi Son believes making a better world is one of the most valuable things we can do.

Christina Kang

Christina H. Kang attended College du Leman International School in Geneva, Switzerland and obtained her B.F.A in Textile Design from the Rhode Island School of Design. Ms. Kang completed her M.A in Visual Arts Administration at New York University and has worked in the primary and secondary markets in both Korea and New York, with affiliations to Christie’s, Museum of Arts and Design and several leading New York City galleries. In Seoul, she is an art advisor in the art and design divisions of major corporations and art institutions where she collaborated with artists, designers and architects. She is also an avid art collector. Currently, Kang is an adjunct professor at Ewha Womans University Graduate School of Design and an author of The Collectors (2014) and The Artists (2015). She successfully launched 2015 Design Art Work (DAW Fair) in Seoul, Korea.

About the Moderator

Liz Yisun Kwon is a New York-based curator, writer, and art consultant. Kwon's exhibitions, writings, and publications have been introducing the artists in New York to the Korean art communities, bridging New York and Seoul. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art Education from Korea University, and Master’s degrees in Art Theory and in Arts and Cultural Management from Seoul National University and the Pratt Institute, respectively. Beginning her career at the Noguchi Museum and the Guggenheim in New York, her involvement in the art community inspired her to expand her works into diverse projects. While serving as the director of the Yace Gallery and the Project Manager at NY Projects Inc., an international art advisory company, Kwon organized a wide range of international art and design projects. In addition to her current title as the Director of Gallery HO in Chelsea, she is an avid art critic and writer whose publications include Museums Make New York Peculiar (뉴욕의 특별한 미술관, 2012). She is also a board member of uJung Art Center and uJung Foundation in Seoul.