about

I think of my artwork as a constant battle between my background in traditional techniques and anime influences from my childhood. As much as I love creating art, I was never really surrounded by a healthy environment both at home and at school where there was a lack of creative people. Because of this, I quickly transitioned from anime to realism which did work in my favor as my technique in foundation skills dramatically improved, except I was mostly creating art to please others rather than for my own interests and happiness. However, I am beginning to combine the two elements to create art that is not only fit to my standards but also to my interests. Many of my subjects are female figures or portraits, whether it would be myself to depict my personal stories, or an original character’s stories, which stems from my ongoing love for Japanese pop culture. Even though many of my works are personal or follow some kind of narrative, I like to keep it ambiguous to the viewer so that they can create their own stories upon seeing my art. For example, in my piece The Unknown, inspired by Janet Cardiff’s and George Bures Miller's The Killing Machine, I illustrated a focused composition in a dark alleyway featuring a cyborg character looking down at the viewer. Around the character are elements that described the environment, such as a bright neon characterized vending machine, the pool of blood by the character’s mechanic legs, and in the distance is the alleyway opening up to a street as depicted by a bright street lamp. Viewers can depict the character is possibly a secret agent who had just completed a mission that dealt with taking out someone, or a villain who is staring down at the victim. Either way, I wanted to make it so that the viewers are part of the scene by utilizing perspective to make it seem like the viewer is the victim.

At a young age I was drawing with a Wacom tablet because of the strong anime influence I was experiencing and the discovery of illustrators and concept designers such as Ilya Kuvshinov. I would create countless original characters and write stories and fanfiction, ambitious to become a mangaka artist when I grew up. Although I was so full of creativity during the time, I lacked the skill. I pushed myself to further develop my foundation while under the pressure of applying to art schools, and I ended up pushing away my creativity and because of the constant praise I received for my traditional work in contrast to my cartoon/anime work. I explored and still use mediums such as graphite, charcoal, acrylic paint, and oil paint. I even developed an interest in arts and crafts, such as creating realistic miniatures using polymer clay and costume design. To broaden my horizons as an artist, while also embracing the two faces of my artistic experience, I am beginning to challenge myself with mediums such as watercolor, colored pencil, and pastel as seen in my recent works.

Many artists have influenced my style. My taste varies from other worldly character and environment concept designs, webtoon and manga art with creepy and dark aesthetics, and traditional and digital illustrations portraying serenity and elegance. These mix of styles, aesthetics, and themes combined with my growing technical skill allows me to explore, create, and manipulate my art the way I want.