A common theme I feel is prevalent throughout my works is the idea of perception and agency. I enjoy looking at the darker aspects of life and shining a light on them in my own unique way. I like playing with the viewer and controlling what they think of the piece they’re interacting with, and that blends well with pieces I make that deal with abandonment or other themes.

 

The process of creating art is a very difficult and personal journey, as I am not a very outwardly expressive person, despite my love for art and music. Many times, I leave work unfinished because the exhaustion is too much. However, if I take my time and really work through that plateau, the work turns out nicely.

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Most of my art is done in charcoal, but sometimes I branch out and use graphite and oil pastels. I like using charcoal because the darks are more dramatic both to see and to use in the process of creating a piece, and I’m drawn to those darker values. Using black and white is simpler to me, but I enjoy colored pieces the most for their variation. There’s something very aesthetically pleasing to me about the way charcoal lingers on paper, and the bold lines you can make with a single stroke. The content of my work is mostly subjective abstraction, but I enjoy mixing realism with surrealism, and using both to blend together or create contrast as needed. 

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I don’t have a plethora of conscious influences on my work, but I can name a few: Steven Universe and Pokemon. Both were influential for me growing up, and I spent many hours of classes in school drawing characters for both shows instead of studying or doing homework. A lot of the more fantastic elements of my work come from dreams I have, or my interest in things like mythology. I also pull a lot of subconscious inspiration and influence from my childhood, and I use the feelings I had back then as fuel for my work. In future works, I’d love to study Baroque works and draw inspiration from them because I love the dramatic colors and techniques developed during that period of time, like tenebrism.

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I don't believe there is a set demographic for my audience, but I would want my art to be special for brown queer folks, mostly because I am one and also because I feel like the art world, although it’s much better now in terms of diversity, is mostly populated by people whose experiences and stories have been told countless times throughout history. I want to change that in any way I can, even if I’m just one person at one point in time. I don’t desire to be some sort of revolutionary artist, but I believe my goal (both as a creative person and as an artist) is to help others and show how my experiences as an individual- growing up as a kid unsure of themself and how the world would label them, learning that the world does not favor me, living now as a young adult who knows what they want to do but unsure of how to get there- shape the art I make and the battle between realism and the imaginary. The art I make is ultimately a form of escapist therapy and helps me balance between what “should” exist (the real) and what ultimately doesn’t.