I’m Grace, a visual artist.
I’m married to my high school sweetheart Vincent and live with our three cats: Luna, Momo, and Milo. We’re kind of crazy for cats and hope that one day we can own our own cat cafe or bookstore. My love for photography blossomed when I lived in Europe for two and a half months before a pandemic overtook the world. It was there when I was surrounded by so many creative friends and beautiful scenery that inspired me. You can also find me writing for my online publisher called The Sojourney Co, teaching and leading others to sing beautiful music to our Maker at my local church, watching and analyzing movies for my Hill City Podcast, and camping outdoors in the mountains of North Carolina.
Before you recognize my artwork and masterpieces in writing or photography, I want to acknowledge this truth that I’m simply a mere image of an ultimate Artist. Writer. Creator. I can only create out of something that has already been there, but God has created out of nothing (Genesis 1). There is no me without Him. There is no me before nor after Him. I am a reflection of a good, beautiful, and creative triune God of the Universe, and ultimately reality. I stand before beauty Himself and invite you to wonder in awe of Him who is greater than I will ever be.
Behind the lens and a closer look at who i am as a human being
I am Hmong.
My people come from the mountains of Laos and Thailand. It’s been about 40 years since the Hmong have immigrated to the States. We are like the minority of the minority (asians). When I was younger, I used to be shy and embarrassed of my heritage. Now I desire to embrace this aspect of my identity as a Hmong women because it’s woven into the fabric of my story. The Hmong people are naturals at storytelling. They are so good with their words that they would sing song stories and pass them down from one generation to another. I remember being a little girl and my grandma would sing them to me before putting me to sleep. As a Hmong woman, I now get to share these stories through my writing and pictures with people from all over the world because of the new opportunities of living in America. What a privilege.
A visual montage of videos my dad recorded and put together of younger me.
I am inspired by my parents who documented my whole childhood.
My dad invested in a camcorder and began documenting my life since I was a baby. His piles of tapes are still lying in the attic. I loved how unedited these films were. It just captured what Grace in 2004 was like, what she ate, what she did. To this day, my family still gathers around our T.V to rewatch these old videos and reminsce over the days that were so simple yet meaningful. A decade and era that is long gone now but lives in the raggedy tapes in my parents attic.