Chung Soon Fwhang-O'Dwyer

Born into a family of artists in her native Korea, Chung Soon Fwhang was always enamored with the Western approach to painting. In Korea, she studied ballet and painting in the Western style. Forever looking Westward, she eventually fell in love with an American, married, and moved to New York City.

Ironically, it was only after arriving in the U.S. that she discovered that the Western tradition was not hers. Her gaze shifted eastward to seek what was missing. She studied traditional Chinese and Japanese brush painting, and soon began to bridge the gap between East and West by combining the Oriental brush strokes with bright Western colors. Like her six children, she realized that her art was neither Asian nor American, but a unique blending of the two.

During the past 50 years, she has continued building bridges between the traditional and the modern, and the East to the West in all her paintings. Her images dance on the page, and incite the viewer to dance with them. Each painting is like a ballet, expressing movement, emotion, spirit, joy and passion.

Mrs. O'Dwyer has been a member of the Korean National Academy of Fine Art for over 17 years, and her artwork has toured the world. She was one of the first women to be accepted for membership in the Salmagundi Club in New York, America's oldest group of professional artists. For several years, she served as a judge for the semi-annual shows at the famous Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit. She has over 40 years of teaching experience and demonstrations in Fine Art and Oriental Brush Painting at colleges, community centers and studios.

Her work has also been exhibited in local businesses, and was showcased in the Korean Cultural Exhibit at the Children's Museum in Newark, NJ.

She is a professional, powerhouse personality with an unparalleled spirit!