Transform the Barren into Something Beautiful
Art's highest purpose is its ability to communicate something of value and truly touch another. Artmaking has taught me to be patient and to trust that even the most chaotic, seemingly unresolvable work can transform into something meaningful and beautiful. There is a freedom in this process, a freedom that comes from a willingness to explore the unknown. It's a delicate balance between control and release, between intention and serendipity. This is where the magic happens.
Through my art, I seek to be truly understood and seen. Diverse and sometimes contradictory parts come together, striving for harmony, unity, and a sense of belonging. My representational work is an embodiment of my ideal self, a place of pure beauty, harmony, and joy. Yet, there is another part of me—worn, tattered, fractured, and forgotten. I gather these pieces, rearranging and reordering them into something beautiful.
In my process, I created a unique approach, exploring and delving deep into the endless ways I can express and communicate. Each painting emerges from the turbulent and disordered to the beautiful. Cohesion is achieved by completing layer after layer in one session. Beauty can be found in the edges of things—the way a shape entangles another, how it turns away, and how it thrusts forward. With organic brushwork that yields inherently beautiful forms that flow and merge, I create a sense of dimension and unity.
After the painting has dried, I carefully separate the underlayer from the support, revealing a natural duality. The top surface is bold and unforgiving, with assertive strokes that exude a sense of chaos. Beneath lies a world of beautiful, subtle, and sensitive details that couldn't have existed any other way. There is sensitivity in what you put underneath, in the subtle swirls of water and the shades blending into one another, hiding from the light, melding into one.
To destroy is to take a leap of faith—to believe in redemption and understand that risking failure is a necessary part of creation for the better. I then deconstruct the whole, putting them back together again with intention. When arranging the pieces, many find it difficult to discard what they like, but I found it challenging to keep the best parts. I had to learn patience because, without patience, I was certain to destroy. The goal is to find the balance. I had to acknowledge my successes and failures to evolve and grow, and it's only when I start to understand the nature of things that I realize I have to start over.
Art, for me, is a form of transcendence. It allows me to rise above, to worlds of vibrant colors, with nods to my roots, and reflections of experience in this world. My art captures the state of wonder I felt as a child, weightless and limitless, gazing up at the night sky—it embodies my longing for a return to innocence and the boundless possibilities of youth.