Inspired by the rich visual language of poetry, this series of three prints captures a poet's words, transforming them into a micro-world confined in a bell jar. By building the worlds out of stippled ink, I created a stark contrast between the fleeting static-like imagery inside the containers with their more solid bases. In viewing these prints, I invite my audience to immerse themselves in the poetic universe. To read the poems printed on the bell jars, click the images or click here.

Created as a submission to the Agency of Unrealized Projects, this digital zine acts as a project proposal for an audio-visual installation that will never come to exist in the real world. This project proposal is the product of my childhood experiences exploring my hometown and its surrounding desert landscape and my more recent interest in water resources and conservation. In this zine format, images and words collide, confronting readers with questions regarding the connection between our environment and our lifestyles.

Hafu is an informal Japanese term used to describe individuals who are half-Japanese. As a Hafu, I have struggled with understanding and accepting my cultural identity. This project creates a whole out of my two halves. On one side of this fabric chip bag is a drawing of a classic American Lay's package, and on the other is my favorite childhood snack from Japan, Karu. The two sides are bound together, their contents intermingle, but the drawings will never meet face to face. This simultaneous intermingling and separation reflect the similarly complex ways in which my cultural backgrounds interact.

View my gallery talk here.

To be a person of color in America is to live under the constant scrutiny of the white gaze. In my work, young people of color take center stage. These individuals are my peers, existing in a primarily white institution in which it is all too easy for their presence to be erased or overlooked. However, in this form, they exist as imposing, larger-than-life figures, their eyes locked on yours as you pass them by. They hold the power, returning your gaze, placing critical attention back onto you as the viewer. In a wall of solid color background, these individuals refuse to be defined by their surroundings or to be lost in the white of the exhibition space. Instead, they take up both physical and visual space, commanding your attention.

By pulling imagery from old family photographs, I created a series of paintings exploring the concept of genetic memory. In psychology, genetic memory is a memory present at birth that exists in the absence of sensory experience and is incorporated into the genome over long periods. In these paintings, I create abstract representations of my genetic memory by selecting moments and people who felt familiar and tampering with their image by manipulating color, texture, and line. 

After the passing of my maternal grandmother, I inherited several boxes overflowing with old photographs of her family and friends. In creating this body of work, I revisited these photographs utilizing experimental oil painting and etching techniques inspired by black and white film photography to explore my interest in the connection between familial artifacts and personal identity. 

View the full animation here.

This hand-drawn animation follows the nightly routine of a young girl's stuffed rabbit. When darkness falls and its owner is fast asleep, the plush toy comes to life. Stretching and transforming like mochi, or chewy pounded rice, the rabbit, makes its way up to the moon. As the night comes to an end, the rabbit falls back to earth and returns to its owner's side. 
 

Inspired by Japanese folktales that tell of a rabbit living on the moon who spends its days pounding mochi, this animation is infused with imagery inspired by traditional Japanese crafts and textiles. However, the animation itself breaks from tradition, and instead pulls from my imperfect memories of hearing these stories as a child. 

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This mural design was created for the Willamette University Biology department's butterfly garden. The design incorporates the showy milkweed that was planted in the garden as well as the "Migration is Beautiful" slogan that was created in support of human migration rights. The large monarchs that soar over the milkweed, like human migrants, are facing a crisis as environmental changes make their yearly migration increasingly difficult. The Oregon state motto, "Alit Volat Propriis," is also included in the design as a reference to the monarch's connection our school's connection to the state.