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I create to connect - ideas to emotions, design to humanity
The Courage to Drown
Medium: Acrylic on canvas.
Inspired by a video of a cow swimming into the ocean to escape captivity, I painted the ocean with a knife and thick acrylic paint, stacking ridges of color so the water feels heavy and moving. A small figure cuts a wake through the diagonal currents; the palette shifts from the cooler green shore towards deep dangerous violet depths. I painted this piece as a picture of freedom and its risks: leaving the known for the open, beautiful, unpredictable world. As I prepare to leave home for college, I will think about that swim: choosing my direction, taking the hit of the waves, and knowing the ripples I leave behind will keep widening even after I'm gone.
Inspired by a video of a cow swimming into the ocean to escape captivity, I painted the ocean with a knife and thick acrylic paint, stacking ridges of color so the water feels heavy and moving. A small figure cuts a wake through the diagonal currents; the palette shifts from the cooler green shore towards deep dangerous violet depths. I painted this piece as a picture of freedom and its risks: leaving the known for the open, beautiful, unpredictable world. As I prepare to leave home for college, I will think about that swim: choosing my direction, taking the hit of the waves, and knowing the ripples I leave behind will keep widening even after I'm gone.
Cracks in Their Complexion
Medium: Charcoal, pastel and digital collage on paper
A series of fragmented portraits examines how identity can be broken and reassembled. The harsh red background and divided compositions conveys themes of vulnerability and self-perception. I wanted to explore how I could create meaning not only through the creation of the portraits, but also the process of taking them apart by cutting and smudging. For instance, the bottom left portrait is an image of my favorite basketball player Shai Gilgeous Alexander. Within the piece his face is cut out and shifted slightly, effectively "defacing" him. A white horizontal smudge covers his eye line like a censor bar.
A series of fragmented portraits examines how identity can be broken and reassembled. The harsh red background and divided compositions conveys themes of vulnerability and self-perception. I wanted to explore how I could create meaning not only through the creation of the portraits, but also the process of taking them apart by cutting and smudging. For instance, the bottom left portrait is an image of my favorite basketball player Shai Gilgeous Alexander. Within the piece his face is cut out and shifted slightly, effectively "defacing" him. A white horizontal smudge covers his eye line like a censor bar.
I am flawless under my skin
Medium: Charcoal, acrylic markers, digital collage on paper
I decided to draw the face with charcoal because it's messy and alive and so intense. Through taking advantage of these properties, I was able to pull out both extreme shadows and the sharp strip of brightness caught by the cheek and the eye. Then, after cutting out the portrait, pasting onto red construction paper and then taking a picture, I scribbled over the piece with a red Posca marker, arterial and jittering like a nervous system running under the skin. I then digitally collaged the two pieces together with a clean seam. The high contrast of red and black compounds with the juxtaposition between the side-by-side portraits creates a visceral unsettling feel. This piece asks a simple question: are we the surface the world sees or the wiring and everything beneath, and can both be equally horrifying and beautiful?
I decided to draw the face with charcoal because it's messy and alive and so intense. Through taking advantage of these properties, I was able to pull out both extreme shadows and the sharp strip of brightness caught by the cheek and the eye. Then, after cutting out the portrait, pasting onto red construction paper and then taking a picture, I scribbled over the piece with a red Posca marker, arterial and jittering like a nervous system running under the skin. I then digitally collaged the two pieces together with a clean seam. The high contrast of red and black compounds with the juxtaposition between the side-by-side portraits creates a visceral unsettling feel. This piece asks a simple question: are we the surface the world sees or the wiring and everything beneath, and can both be equally horrifying and beautiful?
Dragon's Gaze
Medium: Pen and ink on paper.
A close-up of an eye is surrounded by intricate, armor-like patterns, suggesting protection and confinement. Through this work I wanted to showcase my usage of crosshatching with the pen, using graphite to fill in mid tones while emphasizing the shadows with a sharpie. I added a vignette effect by fading both in value and detail near the edges in order to add emphasis on the eye in the center.
A close-up of an eye is surrounded by intricate, armor-like patterns, suggesting protection and confinement. Through this work I wanted to showcase my usage of crosshatching with the pen, using graphite to fill in mid tones while emphasizing the shadows with a sharpie. I added a vignette effect by fading both in value and detail near the edges in order to add emphasis on the eye in the center.
To Grow Old into You
Medium: White charcoal and graphite on black paper
Drawn in white charcoal and graphite on black papers, this piece carves the image out of the darkness rather than receding into it. By using white materials, I am able to "draw the light", allowing the negative space to sit quiet and heavy around the couple, like the silence that two people share after a lifetime. The overlapping faces merge at the forehead and mouth as the couple coalesce in a kiss. I believe using white also helped exaggerate the appearance of age within the work: the highlights on the wrinkles, the eyelids and especially the beard. This piece is about the endurance of love, and how its strength keeps this elder couple bathed in light amongst the darkness.
Drawn in white charcoal and graphite on black papers, this piece carves the image out of the darkness rather than receding into it. By using white materials, I am able to "draw the light", allowing the negative space to sit quiet and heavy around the couple, like the silence that two people share after a lifetime. The overlapping faces merge at the forehead and mouth as the couple coalesce in a kiss. I believe using white also helped exaggerate the appearance of age within the work: the highlights on the wrinkles, the eyelids and especially the beard. This piece is about the endurance of love, and how its strength keeps this elder couple bathed in light amongst the darkness.
Fragments of Thought
Medium: Graphite, ink, and digital overlay on textured paper
This portrait merges realistic drawing with digital schematics to explore the intersection of humanity and technology. I wanted to showcase how both structured systems and organic emotion coexist within identity. On a more personal level, this piece serves as reflection of the way different facets of my identity combine: what I felt was the more "mechanical" stem side and the more "organic" arts side.
This portrait merges realistic drawing with digital schematics to explore the intersection of humanity and technology. I wanted to showcase how both structured systems and organic emotion coexist within identity. On a more personal level, this piece serves as reflection of the way different facets of my identity combine: what I felt was the more "mechanical" stem side and the more "organic" arts side.
Weight of Silence
Medium: Graphite on paper
An elderly man covers his mouth in a moment of quiet reflection. The detailed rendering of his wrinkles and features emphasizes time, memory, and unspoken emotion. I focused on capturing the subtleties of texture and light to communicate stillness and dignity. The use of graphite pencils allows both this focus on detail while also emphasizing a nostalgic black and white effect. Despite the intricate details present in the center of the portraits, the elderly man appears to almost fade into his surroundings, inviting the audience to ask the question "where has the time gone?"
An elderly man covers his mouth in a moment of quiet reflection. The detailed rendering of his wrinkles and features emphasizes time, memory, and unspoken emotion. I focused on capturing the subtleties of texture and light to communicate stillness and dignity. The use of graphite pencils allows both this focus on detail while also emphasizing a nostalgic black and white effect. Despite the intricate details present in the center of the portraits, the elderly man appears to almost fade into his surroundings, inviting the audience to ask the question "where has the time gone?"
Too Bright to Bleed
Medium: Graphite
I built a face and fists almost entirely from straight lines, slashes, grids, and crossings. I wanted the concept to be a reflection of ego, by limiting myself to straight strokes I aimed to make the image tense and brittle. The only shapes in the piece created by curved lines are the chain and highlights in the eye sockets of the skull, erased out off the graphite so they gleam in its absence. Rather than a concrete image, within this piece I seek to communicate more of an atmosphere fraught with pride, recklessness and vanity through the usage of cuts, drips, and highlights.
I built a face and fists almost entirely from straight lines, slashes, grids, and crossings. I wanted the concept to be a reflection of ego, by limiting myself to straight strokes I aimed to make the image tense and brittle. The only shapes in the piece created by curved lines are the chain and highlights in the eye sockets of the skull, erased out off the graphite so they gleam in its absence. Rather than a concrete image, within this piece I seek to communicate more of an atmosphere fraught with pride, recklessness and vanity through the usage of cuts, drips, and highlights.
Blueprint of Thought
Medium: Graphite, digital overlay, and ink on paper
Blueprint of Thought portrays the restless energy of a creative mind in motion. The expressive graphite portrait, with its swirling hair and curious gaze, suggests both wonder and introspection. Overlapping architectural lines and geometric schematics merge with organic textures, symbolizing the fusion of imagination and logic.
Blueprint of Thought portrays the restless energy of a creative mind in motion. The expressive graphite portrait, with its swirling hair and curious gaze, suggests both wonder and introspection. Overlapping architectural lines and geometric schematics merge with organic textures, symbolizing the fusion of imagination and logic.
Still Life with Pitcher
Medium: Graphite on paper
This traditional still life demonstrates control of value, texture, and composition. Through subtle tonal variation, I explored how light can transform simple objects into moments of quiet observation. It serves as a technical and meditative study.
This traditional still life demonstrates control of value, texture, and composition. Through subtle tonal variation, I explored how light can transform simple objects into moments of quiet observation. It serves as a technical and meditative study.
Dual Nature
Medium: Colored pencil, graphite, and ink on paper
A leopard’s face transitions into a skull, merging vitality with decay. The piece explores instinct and mortality through anatomical precision and expressive pattern. I wanted to visualize how strength and fragility exist within the same form.
A leopard’s face transitions into a skull, merging vitality with decay. The piece explores instinct and mortality through anatomical precision and expressive pattern. I wanted to visualize how strength and fragility exist within the same form.
The Fluid Ballet
Medium: Colored pencil and white ink on black paper
Through its dynamic composition and expressive contrasts, the piece celebrates the beauty of transformation, where sound becomes sight and an everyday gesture turns poetic.
Through its dynamic composition and expressive contrasts, the piece celebrates the beauty of transformation, where sound becomes sight and an everyday gesture turns poetic.
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