acrylic paint, gelli print
40” x 30”
What is the fate of future generations in understanding their heritage? I see myself as part of a generation that is descending towards cultural homogeneity. The populations we give birth to will be born from these conditions, and being composed of so many cultures, are uniquely responsible for creating their own traditions that are based on their life experiences rather than their cultural ties. Is it our obligation, as audiences and participants of this process, to actively work to reconnect with our heritage in order to pass it on to future generations?
18” x 24”
Anchorless is my representation of the feeling of overstimulation or being overwhelmed, communicated by texture and pattern. I wanted to portray how America’s saturated diversity can lead to a lack of concrete identity through my own lens. The figure in the painting is viewing an amalgam of places, an image I synthesized from different photos of Vietnam and Japan. These countries are all places I have cultural connection to, yet I feel completely separate from them simultaneously, being fundamentally American. The connection between the circular pattern on the figure’s back and the pattern on the outside of the dome create an effect of the figure fading into the background, portraying a lack of self as a result of an environment. The vague and abstracted details of this painting allow it to speak to universal experiences while also being a direct reference to my own perspective.
drawing board, acrylic paint, ceramic stucco, wooden dowels
27” x 23” x 1”
How reliable is oral tradition as a method of passing down traditions and culture through generations? For this work, I had my parents each write me a letter about a significant childhood memory. The emotions and details that I remembered were illustrated on a small square panel. Afterwards, I read the letter myself, and illustrated larger panels based on the full story. When the two pieces are combined, the difference between them speaks to how much of history and stories of lineage can be manipulated and even lost as they are passed through oral tradition.