An Obsession
Mary Jhun was born in Cavite, Philippines in 1989 and moved to the States in the mid-‘90s. Her struggle with English and making friends as a kid was what pushed her need to draw when she was in elementary school. “I gave a drawing of a bird to a boy when I was eight and he became my friend without me saying a word. That was when I knew I wanted to use art first and foremost as my voice.”
Mary Jhun is an Autodidact, advocating for self-education. Leaving Art School at the end of her college years, Jhun began her path in becoming a surrealist artist and explored disciplines of art such as printmaking, architecture, sculpting, music, and culinary.
Jhun is well versed in Surrealist Automatism, a method of art working directly from the subconscious without a planned approach. She refers to her work as “emotional self portraits of a day remembered” for that the method allows the pieces to be thumbprints of haunting memories.
Jhun’s work mainly focuses on the subconscious, working mainly introspectively by improvising lines as she creates figures of girls under the title The Weight Of Memories (#theweightofmemories). Her studio resides in Barrio Logan, the arts and culture district in San Diego. Her first murals and public work are rooted in Barrio Logan and can also be found throughout San Diego, Seattle, and Arizona.