Let’s start from the beginning! Tell us a little about the journey that led you to where you are now.

My background is in fine arts, with a focus on sculpture and performance. Much of my early work explored ritual as a conceptual framework, which is what first drew me to incense. I became interested in the sensory and symbolic tools used in ritual practices — incense being one that consistently appeared across cultures, whether for its spiritual qualities, aromatic function, or even as a way to track time.

In tandem, I began learning bookbinding during my time in school. Then shortly after graduating, I started tattooing. Each of these practices — incense, bookbinding, and tattooing — developed in parallel, often informing one another through shared attention to craft, materiality, and intention.

After I graduated, I spent over a year in various artist residencies internationally, which eventually landed me in New York. Fast-forward to six years ago, I relocated to Los Angeles and founded Goyo. We then expanded to New York with a second space in Greenpoint. I’m now based in both cities!

As a multi-disciplinary artist, your work spans many creative forms – incense making, bookbinding, tattooing, product design, and more. How do these practices shape and distinguish your brands, Hyungi and Goyo Space?

Because my practice spans multiple disciplines, I’ve found that each one naturally informs the others — but they also offer a different kind of creative relief when I start to feel burned out or stuck. Shifting between mediums keeps things feeling fresh and engaging. Sometimes, by stepping into a completely different mode of making, I end up discovering unexpected connections — intersections that wouldn’t have come up if I stayed in just one lane. The tension between unique and familiar is actually where a lot of exciting ideas emerge for me.

In terms of structure, Hyungi is the name under which I create — whether it’s incense, object-based work, scent development, or teaching workshops. It’s all rooted in my personal practice. Goyo is the physical space that holds that work — and also makes room for others. It’s a place where my own work can live, but just as importantly, where I can host, collaborate, and build community with other artists.

We’re honored and excited to now be carrying an assortment of your incense at Shoppe Amber Interiors – Ume Incense Shapes, Moonstone Incense Papers, and Hanok Incense Cones. What can you share about the variety of scents and forms?

The first is Hanok, named after traditional wooden homes in Korea. It’s a very woody blend, with notes of cypress, oak, amber, and black pepper. There’s a subtle warmth and spice to it that makes it a crowd favorite. These are also backflow cones, which means the smoke travels downward through a hole in the base — creating this beautiful, almost dry-ice-like effect. If paired with a backflow burner, it creates a cascading, smoky waterfall that’s really mesmerizing to watch.

The second is Ume, which is shaped like a small gourd — something you don’t often see in incense forms. It’s a great choice for anyone looking to explore a more sculptural or unique incense. The scent includes plum, cherry blossom, ginseng, and ylang-ylang — so it’s slightly fruity, floral, and has an herbal, medicinal quality. I was also thinking about nerikoh (incense pellets) when I made this — those were used historically to preserve medicine and often included notes of plum, so this one is a subtle nod to that tradition.

The last one is Moonstone, which is an incense paper — completely different from the other incense. We use a traditional Korean Hanji paper, which is mulberry bark based. These are made by soaking paper in a concentrated fragrant solution of mostly resins and then drying it. The scent is richer and lingers longer, even though the burn time is very short. The notes are styrax, frankincense, palo santo, and vanilla amber. It’s warm, sweet, and decadent. The inclusion of styrax is a nod to traditional French incense papers, which were originally made with that resin.

How would you explain the relationship between time-honored techniques and innovation in your craft? How do you bring the two together to create products that simultaneously respect tradition while embracing thoughtful evolution?

What I find so beautiful about incense is that everyone relates to it differently — some people use it purely for scent, others for spiritual or meditative purposes. But historically, incense served a wide range of functions that often go overlooked today. It was used to measure time — through devices like incense clocks or dragon boat incense burners — as well as in ceremonies, to preserve medicine, and even as insect repellent. It was also a precursor to perfume, with forms like incense pendants, sachets, and body powders.

After nearly a decade of researching incense, I’ve become deeply interested in both its traditional uses and how it can be reimagined in contemporary life. That research really informs how I create and present my work. I’m always thinking about how to honor these historical contexts while also innovating — whether that’s through lesser-known formats or completely new approaches. There’s a delicate balance between evolving a tradition and respecting its roots, and that’s something I try to be really intentional about. I never want to dilute or commercialize it in a way that loses its original depth and meaning.

Scents have the power to connect us with emotions, memories, and the world around us. What can you share about the relationship between incense and storytelling?

Scent is such a powerful sense, and yet it’s often overlooked. It’s tied so closely to memory, emotion, and even mood — it has this quiet ability to shift how you feel without you even realizing it. I’ve also heard it’s the first thing you notice when walking into a space, even if you’re not fully conscious of it. And of course, scent affects things like taste too, which shows how interconnected it is with our perception.

What I love about working with incense is how subtle but deeply affecting it can be. One of the most meaningful compliments I’ve ever received was during a workshop. A friend walked into the space, smelled the incense I had lit, and said, “It smells like my home.” She had purchased some of my incense before, and that association had stuck. I think that’s the most beautiful thing — that a scent I created could become part of someone’s sense of home, of comfort, of belonging.

Tell us what a typical day-in-the-life looks like for you.

I’m based between New York and Los Angeles, and I go back and forth about every three weeks — so having a daily routine helps ground me amidst all the travel.

Mornings are especially important. I start my day with tea — usually a Japanese green tea like Gyokuro, or lately I’ve been really enjoying a Taiwanese milky oolong. I’ll make a simple breakfast, something like avocado and egg on toast, have some lemon water, take my vitamins, and then ease into the day with a bit of computer work before I shower and get fully ready.

My workdays vary depending on what’s going on. Some days I’m teaching a workshop, other days I’m in the studio making incense, and sometimes it’s just a full admin or production day at the computer. It shifts, but that’s part of what keeps it interesting.

Evenings are a wind-down moment for me. I’ll have dinner, drink some herbal tea, go through my skincare routine, and try to create a sense of calm before bed. Routine has become a kind of anchor — it helps bring consistency to my days, especially with how often I’m in transit.

How do you find balance through it all?

Balance is definitely something I’m still figuring out, especially with the back-and-forth rhythm of being bi-coastal. But right now, it’s settled into a fairly consistent pattern of spending about three weeks in LA, then three weeks in New York. Over time, I’ve developed this system where I keep separate task lists for each location — so when I land somewhere, I already know what needs to get done, whether it’s prepping for workshops, fulfilling commissions, or handling space-related logistics.

It can feel a bit nonstop and chaotic at times, but I’ve realized I actually thrive in that kind of structure. I tend to be someone who needs to stay busy — I’m not great at doing nothing. For me, even relaxing usually involves some form of work or making. It’s not traditional rest, but it’s what works for me right now.

Incense is often tied to ritual and intention — What role does incense play in your own life? Are there particular moments or practices where it feels especially meaningful?

One of the things I love most about incense is its versatility — it can feel really casual and familiar, but also deeply ceremonial and intentional. I use incense daily, usually in the form of sticks, as part of my everyday rhythm. But when I want something to feel more special or grounding, I’ll create a full incense ceremony just for myself.

What’s fascinating is that in some traditions — like in Japanese incense culture — ceremonies aren’t just about scent or ritual. They can actually be playful. There’s a traditional incense ceremony where five different scents are passed around in a specific order, and participants try to identify which ones match. It becomes a kind of sensory guessing game, and I love that.

To me, that’s what makes incense so rich — it holds many tones at once. It can be meditative, sacred, playful, practical. There are so many ways to engage with it, depending on your mood, your needs, or the context.

What’s next for you? How do you hope to see the impact of your work take form?

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what growth looks like for me. I’ve started working more seriously with ceramics, which feels like a natural extension of my incense practice — especially in creating burners that complement the scents. I’m also interested in eventually exploring tea, which shares a lot of ritual and sensory overlap with incense.

Longer term, what really excites me is the idea of building out a small-scale incense production studio. Right now, most incense manufacturing happens overseas — mainly in Asia — and there’s really no one doing it at scale here in the U.S. I think there’s so much room to experiment, to be playful, and to rethink how incense can exist in contemporary culture.

One of my favorite ways to work is through special projects and commissions — especially when they cross industries. I’ve collaborated with musicians who are releasing albums and created incense as a kind of scent-based merch. I’ll listen to the album, absorb the mood and tone, and then translate that into a fragrance. I love that process. It lets me bring incense into spaces where it might not traditionally belong — and that openness and creative freedom is what keeps me inspired.

Song or album you’ve had on repeat in the studio?

Actress. It’s ambient, but gives an elusive, textural, and deeply atmospheric feel.

Favorite space in your home?

My dining area! It has a tea bar in the back and I sit there every morning with my tea.

Favorite way to relax and unwind?

Light incense, of course, listen to music, and drink tea.

Most nostalgic scent from childhood?

I found this perfume by J Scent called Yawahada, it translates to “soft skin”. It reminds me of my mother, specifically the powdery scent of her skin.