An American Dreamer
Born in Laos during the Vietnam War, Bo was a child of a refugee family forced to flee as the conflict spread. In 1980, his family was fortunate to immigrate to the United States. Having seen life's harshest side at a young age, Bo also witnessed the extraordinary lengths people will go to in order to survive.
His family eventually settled in Northern Indiana, welcomed by a small community of Mennonite parishioners. In that peaceful farming town, Bo discovered his love of art and his natural ability to create. His late father, a prolific self-taught painter, was a deep source of inspiration.
Today, Bo is living his American dream as an award-winning emerging contemporary artist, recognized in the category of pen and ink. He creates art that celebrates beauty and uses it to heal from the turbulent years of his childhood. His subjects range from nature to fashion, and each piece reflects his belief that nurturing our hopes and dreams is magic, and that the freedom to express ourselves is true power.
His signature style blends the flat color and bold lines of Japanese woodblock prints with the contrast look of soft pointillism from the French Impressionism movement. He mainly uses different Micron pens in the stippling technique, used by architects, resulting in work that is simple at first glance and rich in detail up close. His art reflects on the Japanese principles of Shibui / Shibumi. This principle is the idea of finding beauty by being understated; that there is elegance in simplicity. This concept focuses on the balance of simplicity and complexity, so that we never tire of looking at the same object, rather we are continuously mesmerized by it.
Bo's artistic journey began early. He went on to study Visual Communication Design and art history at Purdue University, focusing on digital and graphic arts. His curiosity has taken him through a wide range of creative industries, including advertising, pet fashion, toy manufacturing, and rubber stamp making, and each one continues to enrich his contemporary work. Bo has always believed his creativity is a gift meant to be explored, expressed, and shared with the world.
