Stella S. Kang was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea since 1967. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Seoul Sang-Myung University in 1989. After her graduation, she managed a private art institute for ten years, then immigrated and settled in Canada in 2003. 

She was deeply attracted by and fascinated with Hanji (Korean Traditional paper) and had a strong passion for fine arts which led her to study continuously focusing on Hanji art. She faced a few challenges with communication as her English skills were relatively weak. This, however did not stop Stella from pursuing her passion which is evident in the work she exhibited in multiple solo and group exhibitions around Ontario. 

Her works are mostly based on unique and traditional Korean techniques and has developed its own method, utilizing Hanji art with Canadian contemporary culture appearances. Her desires are to engage the viewers by connecting her state of mind with them through her art pieces, as well as connect ancient with contemporary arts using a mixture of both Korean and Canadian characteristics. 

"Art is one's teacher; It cannot force viewers to know it wholly but it guides them to follow the process to discover and understand the intentions behind what the artist has conveyed. I get infinite imagination and creativity while I work on painterly imagery two-dimensional abstract Hanji arts or three-dimensional sculptural Hanji craft arts." 

Stella's ambition and lifelong goal is to introduce the timeless beauty of Hanji crafts to other people in her community so that it may become more appreciated and known. 

All images and text © the artist