My journey as an artist began when I immigrated from Vietnam as a child, barely speaking English. Unable to express myself easily through words, I found a language in images.
After moving to Tennessee in the early 1990s, a Korean War veteran gave me my first stack of comic books, including X-Men #1 from 1963, that inspired me to become an artist.
Tattooing became the way I could combine that love of art with something deeply human: creating images that become part of someone's life. I've fought hard to build a life around this craft, and I hope that, long after I'm gone, the work I leave behind continues to leave a lasting mark on the people who carry it.