I like to use drawing and painting as a way to carefully investigate and sense my surroundings, feeding a curiosity and self-indulgence while drafting studies and immortalizing in oils things that seem important to me. I also like to set these works into installations that give the viewer small clues to the stories that fed or resulted from those investigations.In my current research I have been keenly listening to stories of my ancestors told by my parents and the seemingly small complaints of my younger siblings. It seemed like my best previous work had been derived from personal stories and introspections, as the conversations they started were more profound than the usual “that’s really good” or “you’re so talented”. This time I thought I would tackle something that had been bothering me for a while but had been buried by fear of misunderstanding and/or rebuttal. Therefore, I decided to masticate the story into something most palatable and easy on the eyes, with distractingly sophisticated rendering and design. Like the masks we wear for the sake of social acceptance, however still honouring the small cracks of the inherited ghosts that have influenced the construction of that mask to begin with. I have had an interest in portraiture for a long while, especially those painted from life where a likeness is captured over a long period of time and small signs of unconstraint surface as the model settles into the pose.My research focuses on acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary to scrupulously articulate and convey the stories and sentiments I have in regards to cultural identity, which are not particular to my family and I but many others who have found themselves in such a conundrum.
