When I began creating this piece, my goal was to use simple colors and outlines to capture the very complex and intricate landscape of New York City.

I made this painting in seventh grade. It was a statement on the degrading pressure of the real work world of today.

Don’t be blinded by our society that we live in today. Seek the truth about you.

Since I had such a strong concept in the beginning, I found little difficulty in conveying multiple correct ways to display this piece. I drew inspiration from “The Creation of Adam” by Michelangelo and took concepts from there as further inspiration. One side features a human hand and plants with simple patterns, organic shapes and a rising sun, while the other side has a robot hand, complex designs, and inorganic shapes like triangles and squares to further push the artificial themes. Depending on which way the project is displayed, one would see a human hand reaching down to a robotic hand, which could symbolize the advancement of technology and how human intelligence has developed so far it’s paving the way for artificial intelligence. If you flip it, you’ll see the robot hand above the human hand. This could mean artificial intelligence is helping humanity solve the problems it itself has caused. It could also be interpreted as artificial intelligence letting go of humanity to ascend past it, as AI has gotten out of control and is now superior to humanity. Alternatively, one with an optimistic lens might see it as a representation of the link between the past and future, and how humanity must acknowledge both in order to build a better world. I feel most successful in how I layered the cardboard pieces to convey a sense of depth, and to have accurately created a piece that has multiple orientations and multiple interpretations based on how it's perceived.

Notable events and people of the years 1920 through 1959 represented in movie poster form.

I wanted to create something nostalgic and dreamy in a deep sea or aquarium setting.

This piece is a tea pot in the shape of an American football and and has a stand that replicates a kickers tee that they use to kick the ball.

The inspiration that comes from my artwork is the Vietnamese dish ¨pho”.

This painting encapsulates a moment Chinese families know all too well. It pictures the scene of a young girl eating traditional dim sum dishes, such as chow mein (炒面), steamed dumplings (小笼包), stewed beef with radish (萝卜炆牛腩), and spicy boiled fish soup (水煮鱼) alongside her family. Dim sum, which directly translates to “touch the heart,” has deep roots in Chinese culinary traditions, and the practice has evolved over centuries. Its origins can be traced back to the teahouses along the Silk Road, where travelers would stop for tea and snacks. Over time, the practice spread and became integral to Chinese culinary culture. It has become a widespread practice for family gatherings and social events where families and friends can share a lively conversation and a comforting meal.

During my first trip back to Japan after Covid to visit family, I came across a restaurant situated beneath a subway track. Captivated by the restaurant's brightness and the glowing rice paper lanterns, I took photos drawing later. Because I was traveling, my art materials were limited, and I only had my rollerball pen. Therefore, to show how the sign illuminated and contrasted the dark underpass, I utilized varying degrees of cross-hatching to deliver value. In addition, I changed the direction of the cross-hatching to show a change in texture, curvature, and perspective. In addition, because of the complexity of the real-life location, heavy cross-hatching helps emulate the busyness of the street and the restaurant's exterior. Lastly, I made sure to include pedestrians as they added to the interest and liveliness of the drawing.

This is a drawing I worked pretty hard on, I don’t usually detail and color my drawings like this, so I tried my best.

When I was researching the different kinds of armor found across Asia, I stumbled upon an image of an armor set from Thailand.

When asked where I feel most comfortable, I always think of water.

Written as a part of a film application. Completed in one day, challenging to limit myself to just 5 pages. It was inspired by my application process, and was also meant to satirize the common-use of black-and-white in student short films.

This is a song from Songs for a New World, a musical by Jason Robert Brown. When I first heard this song, I instantly knew I had to perform it myself. That was a year ago now. The story of the song is more up for interpretation than a traditional musical since it isn’t connected to a larger plot because the musical is in the form of a musical review/song cycle.

This poem was loosely inspired by David Whyte's poem 'Everything Is Waiting For You'. I wanted to write a piece about how it feels to be lonely and wanting to be in love, and I think this poem captures the romantic simplicity of it all. Although love obviously isn't as simple or reliant just on fate as the poem suggests, there's something inherently beautiful about believing in fate and knowing there's always something out there, which I think is also key to the poem's meaning.

True Forms is my most recent piece that I have spent over 70 hours mapping out and shading. I used no reference images: the piece was drawn entirely from imagination and memory. In my process, I apply structured partitioning methods I've learned in geometry to guide composition and proportions, and complement it with amorphous subjects like jellyfish. In this “self portrait”, the ruined temple represents the ornate yet antiquated systems and structures of thought presented by western literary canon. While I believe that studying these systems of thought are invaluable, I also think there is value in exploration of other systems of thought as well. This is why the ruins are contained by the circular borders that the jellyfish can break. I chose eastern architecture because my family originates from east Asia: western thought influences the way I think and therefore becomes part of me regardless of my past. Finally, through the juxtaposition of fluent and structured subjects, I hope to convey an appreciation for the human ability to be both rational and irrational. I find western thinking’s obsession with objectivity and dichotomies fascinating yet shortsighted: simplistic logical structure is beautiful, yet so are spectrums. My drawings operate within a black and white framework, yet it is the gray areas that complete them. What I hope the viewer walks away with is a curiosity about the values and perceptions of truth they hold most dear, and a new appreciation for the rational and irrational sides we all possess.

Inspired to sculpt an extension of my body, I created an open pregnant belly that revealed residential interior spaces. Being pregnant signifies bringing something new to the world. Since sixth grade, I have dreamed of designing interior spaces. I created distinct color schemes and styles for each room to show the breadth of my ideas: an elegant and classy foyer, a coastal bedroom, a modern bohemian living room, and a vibrant, playful dining nook. Presenting these rooms as models inside a womb shows the fostering and continuing development of my future design deliveries. When expecting mothers grow and carry a baby in their womb, they build a physical and emotional connection with it. The same happens between people and the built environments they inhabit. This piece expresses my journey of discovering my purpose and symbolizes the legacy I want to leave.

The biggest crisis facing students in today’s post-pandemic world is mental health. Although we have more resources such as counseling, awareness campaigns, and support programs at our disposal, high school students are increasingly turning to drugs as an escape. Attending a competitive high school in California, we are susceptible to the stress of academically keeping up with peers, alike many other teens. This pressure can be overwhelming and lonely because it’s difficult to admit needing help, and eventually, built-up emotions can escalate to using drugs as momentary relief and addiction. Also, popular television shows can sometimes glorify drugs in high schools, which creates difficulty in separating reality from fiction and danger from normal. We believe a powerful symbol is necessary to remind us of the grim consequences of fentanyl use. In 2021, there were nearly 6,000 opioid-related deaths in California alone (California Department of Public Health). Since many fentanyl drugs have been marketed to look and taste like candy, we used this figure to construct a life-sized tombstone made of 6,000 candies, each one representing an overdose. By depicting our tombstone in a dark, unsettling background, we knew this would be the easiest way for our audience to recognize our intentions with the piece and evoke an emotional response. Our goal is not only to educate about how rampant drugs can be towards our generation but also to encourage realistic, healthy conversations on how we can work better as a community in fighting teen drug abuse.

Following a heated dispute with her boyfriend, a young woman finds herself distraught and alone in her apartment contemplating the future of their relationship as reality blurs and truths are revealed.