Don’t be afraid, take a bite!
Sticky fingers run down jelly sandwiches. Tomato sauce splatters are unleashed upon unsuspecting tabletops. Most adults might gawk at the regressive desire to pick up a fist full of food and create worlds. But for Suea, a Korean-born, Brooklyn-based cook and food designer, tapping into this impulse unleashes possibilities with the power of nuclear fission...
Hugo: Hey Suea, it’s great to meet you. We’re big fans of your work since a while! How did you arrive at where you are right now in your life and career?
Suea: I was born in Korea, and my family immigrated to the US when I was around five. We settled in Montana, in the American West. It’s very white and there is a lot of nature. As a kid, it was good because you’re just playing in the fields. I became enamored with nature from a very young age, but I think I wouldn’t be the same person if I had fully grown up there. When my parents separated, we moved to New Jersey with my mom. It wasn’t my first time being in a big city since I was born in Seoul. But New York was definitely a culture shock for me. In Montana, everyone in my town was Christian. In New Jersey, we were living in a Jewish neighborhood, and I remember when a teacher corrected me, “You can’t say ‘Merry Christmas,’ it’s ‘Happy Holidays!”
From a young age, I knew I wanted to work in fashion and do something creative. When I was 12 or 13, I was obsessed with Vogue and Elle magazines. But I always knew what I wanted to do. Even today, there are still so many things I want to be, but I take my time to focus on one thing at a time.
How did you transform your love for fashion into a career?
I remember when I was in elementary school, my next-door neighbors—two Indian girls around my age—would ask me to pick their outfits and to create looks for them, and I loved it. Their mom taught me how to make naan and other Indian food. I loved these moments at the time. I never thought I would be as interested in food like I am today. Back then, it was really about fashion for me. I was completely obsessed with Abercrombie. I would beg my mom to take me there and buy a polo or a mini skirt.
It kind of just grew from there. I have two older sisters, and both were really good in school. I wasn’t bad, but I just didn’t care as much. My mom was a single mom of three girls and didn’t speak English well. In many ways, my upbringing was similar to many of my immigrant friends, but it was also very different in a lot of ways. My parents weren’t focused on me being good at math or becoming a doctor, but the pressure of doing well in school and having a “good” career still existed for me.
I didn’t want to stay in New Jersey. I developed the traveling bug after completing a study abroad program at high school, called The Traveling School. For four months, we traveled through South America, and we lived with our teachers. They were super young cool women and we learned literally in the field. A science class would be a hike in the Andes Mountains and our gym class would be swimming in the Pacific Ocean. It was such a cool program.