This is one of my more recent water color paintings as I did it of my original character Harry.

One particular subject who has always stood out to me in Greek Mythoology is Hestia, the goddess of home, hearth, and hospitality and the eldest daughter of Cronus and Rhea.

The product of listening to a lot of podcasts about Baba Yaga.

My “Happy New beginning” artwork displays new colors growing from the old in monochrome to send a call for change and that change is possible.

This piece features a cast of my original characters visiting Munich, Germany for the Wiesen Festival (Oktoberfest.)

This piece was inspired by the idea of receiving opportunities only when you're ready for them. I incorporated the bananas to symbolize the idea of something being "ripe", that you've either worked hard enough that something is ready for you or its just landed in your lap. I painted the man in the center in an illustrative, art deco style with a determined look on his face. I wanted to portray him in this style because of the quintessential American-ness that I feel the art deco style has. In western and American culture, there is often an attitude that with enough work you can do anything, and I wanted to both contradict that idea and agree with it in this piece. The man's determination represents the part of life that is dependent on work, ambition, and drive, and the ripe bananas surrounding him provide the condition that no matter how hard you work, sometimes things only happen when they're supposed to. I chose to have red in the background because of the intensity it gives the painting. The hand behind him is meant to be a hand reaching up to the sky, potentially in a plea or in thanks.

As the title states, this piece attempts to capture the multitude of personas within me. Despite the desire to showcase all aspects simultaneously, I've restrained myself, revealing only a few facets of my diverse personality. Yet, there are rare moments when you catch a glimpse of my true self, a harmonious buzz of all sides converging in unity. Creating collages in gouache has become a source of enjoyment for me, and I’ve attempted to use different art styles that fit well with this piece. This work resonates with me, reflecting the process of opening up, much like selecting our daily attire; I choose who I want to be for the day. There are moments when I see myself in shades of black and white, and then there are times when I embrace the more vivid and exaggerated version of myself, painted in vibrant colors. Additionally, there are also other special bits and pieces about me showcased in this drawing too. Everyone has their own persona palette, and I’ve tried my best to represent mine on paper.

This portrait is an insight of what it means, in my experience, to be Transgender. The orange background contrasts with the cool tones of the figure, implying that when you are Transgender, by default, you are an outlier. Despite the patterns in the background and jacket being the same, the person in the drawing still stands out. Looking closely, these same patterns are lightly drawn on the face and hair of the figure.

This piece was inspired by the constant uncontrolled wildfires that we had all around the world. I decided to paint this scene of desolation because I believe that there should be more done about climate change, whether it be reducing fossil fuels or disposing of waste correctly. This painting is also dedicated to all the firefighters and first responders who risk their lives to save others. Many likely have families to return to, and yet they continue to provide crucial support, and that is something everyone should recognize. Some details in the painting include the burnt car on the left, the trees on the right, and the deer fleeing from the flames. The car represents the effect of climate change on humanity, while the trees and deer represent the effects on our environment and other inhabitants.

This artwork I made with the intention of displaying my full and true emotions regarding art. The piece was made with my best attempt at not focusing on the end result and committing to the process of the art. The artwork was made as a sort of ode to my best friend, who I derive a lot of inspiration from, and myself. The piece is titled optical regurgitation as it feels like a sort of visual representation, or regurgitation, of all the things I love most about art and all that inspires me within art. This piece helped me explore my freedom as an artist and to do this within it many different mediums were used such as acrylic paint, collage, colored pencil, ink, graphite, alcohol markers, and more.

This piece is dear to my heart because of what it represents. My father was quite the story teller as a child, telling all about Hindu Mythology. I steadily became really invested in the Indian Epic, the Mahabharat. It is a hero's journey style story about 5 brothers going to war with their 100 cousins over the throne of Hustinapur. In the story, the middle brother, Arjun, is particularly strong, the strongest warrior of the Kuru Princes. He later marries a half snake, half human, Naga, or for women, Nagini, named Uloopi. She eventually gives her life up for Arjun, by taking her Nagamani, a jewel from the middle of her forehead made to keep her forever young, to sacrifice her life for her husband’s. Her story has always stuck out to me, even though it is a simple part of the epic. So when I was given the opportunity for my first sculpture, I chose to make a nagini. I was given two weeks to sculpt her, and I started with the marbling of the clay. I simply took different colors of clay and smashed them together by throwing them at the ground. I then sculpted her tail, and then her torso, and finally, her head and hair with the combined clay. The outer layer formed one color, meaning that once sculpted, I had to slowly scrape away the outer color of the tail in order to get the marbled effect on the tail that makes the snake pattern.

Moonface is a reclamation of my Asian heritage, and a practice in self love. The term “moon face” can mean many things. It’s a medical condition. In some places, it’s used as a derogatory term against Asians. In other places, it refers to natural, ethereal beauty. To me, it has always been a term of endearment, used by my family to celebrate and admire the features inherited from our Japanese ancestors– a round face, glowing skin, a soft nose. As a mixed race kid, it’s hard to feel love for every part of yourself, especially when it feels like everyone wants to tell you what you can and can’t be. Moonface takes my identity from the hands of others and returns it solely to me. By painting the moon over my face, I choose to love and accept my features, the European ones and the Asian ones. I choose to take the beauty of the moon, revered in many cultures, and use it to embrace one of my insecurities, my face shape, turning it into a celebration of my past and future. I choose to reclaim the term “Moonface,” and all the good and bad that comes with it. I choose to turn a narrative of othering and restrictive beauty standards into a story of acceptance, positivity, and confidence. Moonface is a painting of me, made for me, by me, celebrating me, and all who came before.

I created a large scale flower made out of mirror adhesive and mirror tiles that create multiple levels of fragmentation and clarity of the viewer’s reflection. The flower and mirror are symbols of vanity and the transience of beauty, and were common motifs in Vanitas and Still Life paintings. My work creates a tension between the flower and the mirror, the organic and the inorganic, the viewer has a direct relationship with these tensions through their involvement in the piece.

My art, at a glance, is a simple collection of adorable photos--a lovely cat playing with a shoelace, hissing at its own reflection in the mirror, and watching its owner as they complete their homework. Animals are often adopted simply because they are cute. Then, when people no longer want to be responsible, they are thrown away. As if animals are objects that can be sold and returned. As if they aren't living beings. My art may look just "cute," similar to a cat being given up for adoption. But if one looks at what's going on at the surface, they'll never understand how deep it is. My art depicts the transition from being excited to have a pet to rejecting and abandoning it. Excitement, followed by annoyance and rejection, and ultimately, abandonment. Playing with the cat, laughing as it gets scared by its own reflection, trying to ignore it as it sticks its paw out on to the paper, and in the end it's all alone, staring at flowers that have been drained of color. I hope my "simple" art stirs complicated and perhaps even uncomfortable emotions within the viewer, giving life and depth to a "simple" creature that people choose to treat carelessly.

Evanescence. Definition: soon passing out of sight, memory, or existence. A flower plucked from its life source is the epitome of impermanence. Its ephemeral dance of colors and fragrances can only last so long before it succumbs to the animosity of time. The transient nature of the flower’s life mirrors the constant change of the world around it, as its youth fades and its petals scatter, gently settling on the wooden table. It serves as a delicate reminder of the emptiness of chasing an everlasting feeling of joy, forgetting that fleeting moments are what actually gives importance to those feelings. Scratchboard art is the perfect medium for attempting to capture these fleeting moments. Its unforgiving nature of scratch art requires the artist to embrace changes, whether negative or positive, and to continue moving. The act of scratching away the dark surface to reveal the bright layers underneath serves as a visual narrative for the perpetuating cycle of creation and decay, contrasting light and dark to exemplify this notion.

I created this piece to participate in the discussion on the whitewashing of Greek statues and their history. For centuries, archeologists have concluded that the white and marbled remains of ancient Greece symbolized sophistication and elegance. Essentially, it paints a false narrative about how ivory sculptures and architecture are the pinnacle of high class. However, this idea is being contested, as recently, preserved remains of ancient Greece were found with bright colored paint. The Greek statues were actually colorful, as were the ancient Greek monuments. I wanted to draw a comparison between the real ancient Greece and how it is currently being portrayed in museums. On one side, the piece depicts ancient Greece with vibrant buildings and a painted statue. I tried to depict a lively society with busy streets full of people enjoying their lives. On the other side, I wanted to portray what the statue has become after centuries of erosion. The statue is perched on a stand like other damaged statues, showing the state of the remains of a once-great empire. The museum's color scheme is much colder and desaturated to create a contrast against the other side. My goal is to showcase my view on this issue but also open a discussion with other artists to understand their opinions on this subject as well.

I painted this painting with the intentions of it just being a charcoal study but i came back to it a few days later and realized it strayed too far from my original style so I decided to add more movement and color.

This artwork took lots of inspiration from Kanye West’s Graduation Bear.

When loneliness hits, it makes you feel really small. As if no one is out there to help you. You feel like you have no support, guidance, or emotions. You feel... erased. As if everyone wants to ignore you on purpose, with no particular reason why. This was my inspiration for this piece. We have all been in this situation, in which we feel like we have to erase ourselves from society. Feeling like the only thing we can do is crawl up into a ball, hoping that this endless nightmare is over. We feel escaping to the white void of nothingness will finally set us free, but it only happens in our head. What does it take to finally break free? I have no clue. However, I believe bringing awareness to the clause will someday bring me to a solution. One day, I feel loneliness will one day be gone forever, and it will only be a distant memory.

There is no real reason behind my art.