Andrea is a mixed medical reality fellow at FDA. When she first introduced herself as a mixed medical reality fellow, I didn’t quite understand, but two phrases - mixed reality and medical – got my attention. Then she showed me her website andreaseung.com and it was mesmerizing. I have met many incredible artists and scientists, but Andres’s website had both scientific and artistic excellence. Since our first meeting, we had talked more about her skills and motivations. Finally, on one fine day she agreed to let me interview her. Here is the first part of it, where Andrea opens up about her motivation.
Tell me about your website and its contents.
I have a personal portfolio website. When you go to the main page, I have an animation in the background, because I think the landing page should be the flashiest. That will make you explore more, right? When you click on my portfolio - which is also flashy. I have a lot of art in there and I like to show off my art. Main page is all my 3-D arts, which are highly rendered using software like keyshot. Very eye catchy. When you scroll down all the way, you will see links to my traditional illustrations. And I have some of my interactive work. Basically, the things that I am proud of being created (by me) I like to put up there. Though, I haven’t updated it in a long time.
Initial purpose (of the website) was to find me a job. Since working here I don’t need that. Now it is more for myself. When I meet new people, I can tell that check out my website and the things that I have made.
What would you like people to remember from your website?
I don’t want to be just another artist. There are lot of artists out there with beautiful arts, but what makes my art special is that it has a focus on biomedical application visualization and also I have a mission to be truthful to scientific accuracies. I have a passion about science and accuracy that has a lot to do with my research side. I am not just an artist making weird art, but I have other aspects to incorporate in my art.
Even when I make something like giraffe dragon, I am always looking at underlying anatomy and making sure that it make sense. You can see some people who begin to learn to draw because they add random muscular structures. I understand anatomy and that (random muscular structure) does not make sense. I have a lot of respect for surreal art that has considerations of how biomechanics work and how certain muscles are attached. The art should be cool and creative, but it also should have restrain.
On that example of random muscular structures, artists may be doing that to please their particular audience. Do you target certain audience with your art?
That is like opening a can of worms. Am I drawing for myself or to create a certain perception of myself? Where is my intrinsic joy coming from? I don’t know if I will ever have answers. In the end, if I create something that I like, I want to show to people. I like what I created and I want other people to see that.
Other part of it is, if I post my art on instagram and I don’t get enough likes in 24 hours than it affects me. (Ideally,) it shouldn’t affect me. I created it for myself and I showed to the world because I liked it. But I also want it to be well-received. My mom is on instagram and she is my harshest critique. She saw the drawing I did this morning and she texted me that it was stupid. I went back at her and I told her, “I don’t care what you think. It is a drawing for myself.” Now I am thinking what if other people also think it’s stupid.
So, I don’t have a clear answer. I think initially it is for my own satisfaction. I want to see what I thought on paper. I want to keep improving.
When you put your art on Instagram, what does make you happy? Number of likes, or likes from particular people, or something else?
Initially, it used to be number of likes, but I realized that depends on the hash tags I put. So likes affect me less. Sometimes my friends direct message me ‘Hey, it’s cool’, and that means a lot more to me.
When you are over exposed or redundant, people care less. There’s a term for that, I am not recalling. When someone sees my art first time, they are like wow. For my friends on Instagram, who have seen my art for many years, for them it is like, ‘Yeh, she draws.’ So again, number of likes don’t matter. When I make new friends and they appreciate or especially when other artists appreciates my art, that has real impact on me. The other day a friend who had never liked anything on my instagram before, mentioned how much he liked my art. Things like these, when someone brings it into a conversation makes me happy a lot.
What about reaction from a total stranger?
Yes. I sketch on the bus. I always have my sketch book with me. I was shy about my art to start with, but then I got over it and started sketching in public. Few commuters look at it and say, “Wow. This is great.” And I say, “Yeah! Thank you!” At this point, I know my drawings are above average. It may sound a bit conceited. Most people are not spending the time every day I spent drawing and so of course, my drawings are better. You are never going to get worse by practicing more. It is a skill. One can only get better.
What was the last compliment you received?
We had a foreign visitor last three days in our lab from university of Ghent, Belgium. While we were discussing future collaborations, I got to know him personally as well. We shared each other’s arts, because he also draws for fun. It was good to share art interests with someone doing research with you. He showed me his drawings, and he was definitely talented, but he was not pursuing it as seriously. When he saw my work, he said, “That’s really refreshing. I needed someone to motivate me.” That was a nice compliment. By seeing my work, he decided to get back to drawing.
Tell me about your website and its contents.
I have a personal portfolio website. When you go to the main page, I have an animation in the background, because I think the landing page should be the flashiest. That will make you explore more, right? When you click on my portfolio - which is also flashy. I have a lot of art in there and I like to show off my art. Main page is all my 3-D arts, which are highly rendered using software like keyshot. Very eye catchy. When you scroll down all the way, you will see links to my traditional illustrations. And I have some of my interactive work. Basically, the things that I am proud of being created (by me) I like to put up there. Though, I haven’t updated it in a long time.
Initial purpose (of the website) was to find me a job. Since working here I don’t need that. Now it is more for myself. When I meet new people, I can tell that check out my website and the things that I have made.
What would you like people to remember from your website?
I don’t want to be just another artist. There are lot of artists out there with beautiful arts, but what makes my art special is that it has a focus on biomedical application visualization and also I have a mission to be truthful to scientific accuracies. I have a passion about science and accuracy that has a lot to do with my research side. I am not just an artist making weird art, but I have other aspects to incorporate in my art.
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| Giraffe Dragon by Andrea Kim |
Even when I make something like giraffe dragon, I am always looking at underlying anatomy and making sure that it make sense. You can see some people who begin to learn to draw because they add random muscular structures. I understand anatomy and that (random muscular structure) does not make sense. I have a lot of respect for surreal art that has considerations of how biomechanics work and how certain muscles are attached. The art should be cool and creative, but it also should have restrain.
On that example of random muscular structures, artists may be doing that to please their particular audience. Do you target certain audience with your art?
That is like opening a can of worms. Am I drawing for myself or to create a certain perception of myself? Where is my intrinsic joy coming from? I don’t know if I will ever have answers. In the end, if I create something that I like, I want to show to people. I like what I created and I want other people to see that.
Other part of it is, if I post my art on instagram and I don’t get enough likes in 24 hours than it affects me. (Ideally,) it shouldn’t affect me. I created it for myself and I showed to the world because I liked it. But I also want it to be well-received. My mom is on instagram and she is my harshest critique. She saw the drawing I did this morning and she texted me that it was stupid. I went back at her and I told her, “I don’t care what you think. It is a drawing for myself.” Now I am thinking what if other people also think it’s stupid.
So, I don’t have a clear answer. I think initially it is for my own satisfaction. I want to see what I thought on paper. I want to keep improving.
When you put your art on Instagram, what does make you happy? Number of likes, or likes from particular people, or something else?
Initially, it used to be number of likes, but I realized that depends on the hash tags I put. So likes affect me less. Sometimes my friends direct message me ‘Hey, it’s cool’, and that means a lot more to me.
When you are over exposed or redundant, people care less. There’s a term for that, I am not recalling. When someone sees my art first time, they are like wow. For my friends on Instagram, who have seen my art for many years, for them it is like, ‘Yeh, she draws.’ So again, number of likes don’t matter. When I make new friends and they appreciate or especially when other artists appreciates my art, that has real impact on me. The other day a friend who had never liked anything on my instagram before, mentioned how much he liked my art. Things like these, when someone brings it into a conversation makes me happy a lot.
What about reaction from a total stranger?
Yes. I sketch on the bus. I always have my sketch book with me. I was shy about my art to start with, but then I got over it and started sketching in public. Few commuters look at it and say, “Wow. This is great.” And I say, “Yeah! Thank you!” At this point, I know my drawings are above average. It may sound a bit conceited. Most people are not spending the time every day I spent drawing and so of course, my drawings are better. You are never going to get worse by practicing more. It is a skill. One can only get better.
What was the last compliment you received?
We had a foreign visitor last three days in our lab from university of Ghent, Belgium. While we were discussing future collaborations, I got to know him personally as well. We shared each other’s arts, because he also draws for fun. It was good to share art interests with someone doing research with you. He showed me his drawings, and he was definitely talented, but he was not pursuing it as seriously. When he saw my work, he said, “That’s really refreshing. I needed someone to motivate me.” That was a nice compliment. By seeing my work, he decided to get back to drawing.
