Artist Statement

My work process is idea-based rather than material-based. I chose the media based on what would be a better showcase of my vision and properly express it. I use my work as a path to find a place where I can fit in as an Asian being adopted into an all-white American family at 13. It doesn’t matter how much they love me. I could never have the same relationship as a biological child who’s been born and raised by their parents their whole life. In public, I don’t act white enough to fit in with the whites, but I don’t act Asian enough to fit in with the Asians. I was in a place I didn’t know what I was.

My work is about finding a place to feel I belong and am safe and making others feel the same. It is about cultural identity, emotions, and acceptance. My work involves turning emotions and places into images others can see and feel.