Artists Statement

I was born in San Jose, California, and I have a very deep love of my home state. The landscape, flora, and fauna of California all appear in my artwork as either subjects or backdrops. As a child, my parents and I would often go hiking and camping throughout the state, and as a result I love to draw the flora and fauna that remind me of my childhood. Environmentalism is an issue that is deeply important to me, and therefore I choose to portray plants and animals in their natural habitats. In doing so, I hope that viewers will consider how the world around us is interconnected.  My thesis project for my BFA at Portland State University was titled "Ode-cean" and was built around the ecosystems of the Monterey Bay in California and the idea of interconnectivity . A deep dive into my thought process can be found in my portfolio, as well as on the PDX scholar website

Nature has inspired me beyond just the wildlife of my home state. I have been attracted to rainbows since I was a child. The harmony of colors satisfies and soothes me, and has inspired me to create very vibrant artwork. Colleagues and friends would go on to compare my art to Fauvism, Pop Art, and many other styles in which bright color is a defining element. As I grew older and became educated in art history, I learned that European artists in the late 1700s considered the loud colors which I love so dearly to be garish and uncivilized. This was specifically in reference to "ethnic artwork" that was imported to Europe from southeast Asia and Africa. Since I learned this, I decided that I would use highly saturated colors specifically to set myself apart from the mainstream European art tradition. Instead, I looked to traditional Aztec artwork, which is highly pigmented, and modern Mexican Folk art, which is also unapologetically bright and colorful. 

Shapes and intricate patterns have also been an artistic exploration that I have taken part in for years. I discovered the art of "zentangle" (the use of repetitive patterns to create complex designs as a form of meditation) when I was twelve years old, and since then have incorporated dense patterns into my work both as backgrounds, and as decoration to enhance my subjects. My interest in Aztec and Mayan codices led me to incorporate some of the shapes and symbolism found within them into my own work as well. By combining the visual language of the codices with "zentangle", I have developed a visual language, with which I can use my patterns to represent real objects and ideas without directly depicting them. This subtlety is a unique cornerstone of my artwork.  

As a queer person of color, it is both personally and politically important to me to spotlight underrepresented communities in my artwork. The feeling of seeing myself in someone else's artwork has always been healing, and I want to spread that feeling of relief and joy to others who are like me. I draw many close up portraits of women of color to bring forth those positive feelings, and because I enjoy  depicting diverse facial features. In addition to the human form, I call on the spiritual symbolism of plants and animals to reflect the state of mind of the subjects of my portraits.