Create a Colorful Abstract Collage Portrait

Sueim Koo is an artist based in Nanuet, New York. She earned her BFA at SUNY Purchase College and studied at The Art Students League of New York. She has enjoyed five solo exhibitions and was selected and invited to many group exhibitions and art fairs, such as Art’s Guild NJ’s International Juried Exhibition in New Jersey, the Monmouth Museum, the Library of Weill Cornell Medical Center, Bridge to Korea at IHOUSEPHILLY in Philadelphia, the Edward Hopper Art Center, and many more. Her works were awarded the Da Vinchi Art Alliance, Ring Gallery, and the Our Common Grounds Artist Guild Gallery.

Sueim uses collage and oil painting to create abstract landscapes based on phrases in her essay book. Often, the sentences directly from her journal become the titles of the works. Although her work depicts landscapes, those landscapes lie beyond the geographic imagery itself. Instead, each canvas holds in it a story, fraught with the emotional depths of her life. The story of her images with chromatic color schemes is evidence of psychological conflict and metaphors of suppression in her personal life.

By her lustrous abstract paintings with collages, she reveals spiritual and lyrical emotions. Koo orchestrates the colors as if they are soft and romantic musical pitches. Some reflect her deep spirit with enthusiasm, while others depict a broken heart with grief, and the excitement of longing. Therefore, Koo’s images echo a hope to overcome the conflicts of her daily life through her own visual ways.


Throughout 90 minutes of hands-on workshop, artist Sueim will demonstrate how to make a composition on the canvas using collage techniques.

Participants will learn how to create an abstract painting to express their feelings using colors and textures from papers and magazines. It'll be a good chance to experiment on how to convey emotions into a visual surface.


  • Past Event
  • Due to the pandemic, we replaced this workshop with online video.
    We'll get back when things are normal again.
    In the meantime, please click the button below to watch the workshop video.
Watch Workshop Video