I wanted to mimic an all American city. The riverfront is at the very foreground representing historically the geographic reasoning for the city’s placement. The roads loop around the central mall complete with movie theater, bank, and hotel. On the left is the financial district with a bank, office skyscraper, and a park for workers to enjoy coffee and have lunch. On the right is the civic center with city hall, police, fire, and medical. An American city would not be complete without a gas station and a diner found farther down the road on the left. Try to spot small details like the hotdog cart or subway entrance that bring the city to life. Buildings have complete interiors and the bricks are all reused from separate sets.

I created this piece to challenge myself, I wanted to create visual interest, through perspective, and color. I chose a skeleton as my subject to touch on the fact that everyone is the same underneath our muscle, skin and even personality. This fact if comforting in a way, knowing that we always can be connected by this even when we feel completely isolated and different.

My artwork shows the connection between my culture and nature, with a woman in a sari surroundered by the ocean. The Dwarakadhish temple, a symbol of the sunken city of Dwaraka, is in the background. I used glazing and impasto techniques with a limited palette of blue, orange, red, black and white, to create different hues and learn color mixing.

I made this piece as a reflection on the difficulty a lot of young people today have with their reflections. Social media, personal insecurity, and many other factors have led a lot of people to be unable to appreciate their outward appearances without changing them in some way (whether that is through filters, censoring, or makeup). By painting this subject’s face using large pixels, I aim to emphasize that point in an exaggerated, impactful way. I hope that anyone feeling this way about their appearance sees themselves in this painting, and that it motivates them to appreciate their features as they are.

This handbuilt piece is inspired by my feelings around nature. My intent with this piece was to immerse the viewer in nature and bring it to life, as well as to convey the sense of calm that I feel in nature. During my research, I compiled images of koi ponds, lily pads, and fish from many different perspectives. Then, during the design process, I simplified these forms and submerged the viewer underwater to convey a sense of childlike wonder. I love the silhouette and motion of koi fish from above, so even though the perspective of this piece is partially underwater, I inverted the hand-shaped fish in an almost surreal way. I feel that this adds a dimension of freedom and playfulness to the piece. To add depth to the water, I layered two blue glazes on the organic base of the piece, which has left a flowing effect that is similar to a floating blue, but with brown striations. The harmony of nature stood out to me throughout my research, so to capture the motion of the koi and a sense of balance, I put the two fish in curved positions on either of the form, swimming in opposite directions. This harmony adds to the overall sense of calm and completeness expressed by this piece.

This portrait represents the duality of my cultural identity and my experience of finding a balance between them. Although I am fully Chinese, and I identify as such, my family is not, and I wanted to express the confusion of navigating the world through the eyes of one culture, while being perceived as another. The moody expression of my subject shows the unstable feelings of being thrust between cultures, while the contrasting light sources represent both the opposing, and often fundamentally different, values, traditions, and perspectives of each heritage, and also their influences on my daily life, including both the connections and happy memories I have made, as well as the more difficult moments of doubt and feelings of isolation. Finally, I chose to use a cool-toned color palette on top of a fiery red underpainting in order to portray both my inherent Chinese heritage, and also my complete Americanness. The warmer light illustrates how I have committed myself to learning more about my birth country, and how I am integrating that into my life in America.

For this project I sculpted a human head with lichen growing out of it to explore the relationship between humanity and nature. Lichen are a symbiotic organism composed of fungi and algae growing together, and I wanted to show that the relationship between humans and nature can also be symbiotic and harmonious. Lichens are also indicators of good air quality wherever they are growing, and I want this piece to also reflect the hope for healthy and happy communities. At the same time, the image of a monument of humanity being overtaken by nature also suggests the darker message that even after humanity has destroyed itself, life and nature will continue to persist long after us. After a mass extinction, lichen are the first living organisms to appear and begin the cycle that allows an ecosystem to form.

This is a graphic novel that I have been working on over the past few years. I have generated the story and now work on illustrating this story into a graphic novel. I have taken my time in creating each panel with great detail and spend a lot of time working on communicating the thoughts of the characters and developing a rich setting. Communicating mood and anticipation is challenging, but also very rewarding when I am successful. I have really enjoyed creating this graphic novel and try to make each and every panel a piece of art that can stand on its own. This is one of the most challenging endeavours I have ever attempted.

This painting is a self-portrait inspired by Asian selfie culture and the use of shadow blocking techniques. I like trying new methods and styles and for this painting I was focused on the effects of light and shadow using black and white and the many variations between them. The contrast with the dark pink bacground makes the black and white image stand out.

About a week ago I had a dream where I was trying to save this goldfish from dying but all I could do was hold its fragile, slimy wet body in my hands as the water slowly drained through my fingers. It was such a vivid moment of panic, yet I didn’t move. I felt like a vindictive god holding the life of another creature quite literally in my hands. I just stared off into the distance and slowly let it die, and felt irrationally guilty for the rest of the day. Sometimes I feel like my apathy has let some of my friendships die. Sometimes circumstances drive us apart, and I don’t make the effort to reach back out. It’s not a good feeling, it’s a heavy guilt, but it’s alright. I miss them, but I’ll be okay and I know they will too.

The painting is inspired by jobs that take place at night--particularly the entertainment industry. It reveals the different perspectives one may find by observing the public. The drawing portrays a girl who works as an entertainer going home in the day time as office workers go to work. They have such different lifestyles yet cross paths in their daily routines; a glimpse into an alternate life.