Currently a fine arts student at New York City’s Queensborough Community College, 29-year-old Baw was born in Taipei City and graduated from Shilin High School of Commerce before moving to the U.S.
Vocational education was a turning point in her life, Baw said, adding that it provided her with an opportunity to engage in pursuits beyond the confines of traditional education.
Doctors initially feared Baw would never learn to walk or talk, after she suffered from cerebral palsy following a difficult birth. She took up painting as a way of training eye-hand coordination and discovered her life’s passion in the process.
“I love vivid colors, and I love painting. It soothes me,” Baw said. She decided to become an artist after winning the Excellent Novice Award in the eMotion Pictures exhibition of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Cerebral palsy is by no means the only problem Baw has overcome. At 16, Baw received a liver transplant following severe liver poisoning from a herbal medicine overdose. She said it was this experience that made her want to live life to the fullest and gave her the courage to pursue her dreams.
After she moved to the U.S. with her family aged 20, Baw continued to pursue art. She has held exhibitions of her oils in Taipei and New York.
With the help of her parents, she started the nonprofit Wish Dreamer Foundation in 2009, to create more opportunities for those with disabilities or life-threatening diseases.
Baw said she would like to return to Taipei in the future and inspire children with her art to enable them to appreciate the tenacity of life. (YHC-SDH)
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