Creating Art Across a Lifetime: My Lifelong Journey with Creativity

There is a common misconception that artists are “made” at a certain point in life.

In my case, art was never a beginning—it has always been part of my life.

I started painting and drawing when I was around seven years old. What began as a childhood hobby gradually became a quiet but steady thread running through my education, my profession, and my personal journey.

Even while studying medicine, I continued to draw and paint. I participated in art shows during medical school, where creativity existed alongside science. For me, the two were never in conflict. They were different ways of observing human life—one through healing, the other through expression.

When I later lived and worked in my home country, I continued to take part in group exhibitions and community art activities. Art was never abandoned; it simply evolved alongside my responsibilities.

After moving to the United States, my artistic path continued in new environments and communities. I participated in political-cultural fairs, local exhibitions, and collaborative art spaces. I also became involved in academic and cultural settings, including exhibitions and programs connected to institutions such as San Francisco State University and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.

These experiences were important because they expanded my understanding of art beyond personal practice. Art became a shared language across cultures, communities, and generations.

What changed over time was not my relationship with art, but my depth of engagement with it.

Earlier in life, art was a personal passion. Later, it became a broader exploration—through photography, filmmaking, and more structured visual storytelling. Each medium added another layer to how I express ideas and observe the world.

Looking back, I do not see separate stages where I “started” or “restarted” art.

Instead, I see continuity.

A long thread of creativity that has moved through different countries, professions, and phases of life without ever disappearing.

One of the most meaningful realizations I have had is that creativity does not belong to a single chapter of life. It grows with experience. It adapts. It deepens. It becomes more reflective, more intentional, and often more honest.

My background in medicine also shaped my art in ways I understand more clearly today. Working closely with human suffering, resilience, and recovery taught me to observe people with care and attention. That awareness naturally carried into my visual work.

Whether I am painting, photographing, or filming, I am still observing the same subject in different forms: human experience.

Today, when I look at my body of work, I do not see a late beginning or a reinvention.

I see continuity across time.

From childhood sketches to medical school art shows, from cultural exhibitions in my home country to community and institutional participation in the United States, each stage is part of the same evolving journey.

Art has never been something I entered.

It is something I have lived with all along.