I look at art as a way to explore your own personal relationships and internal struggles; to examine them. With my work, though it is often difficult to escape narrative, I enjoy expressing short glimpses into worlds that help to shape ideas around identity and self, including the loss or discovery thereof. Currently, I focus on themes surrounding self-awareness and finding one's place within the world. I want to explore what makes our individuality unique and how our perception of what humanity should be can affect the individual. My own identity crisis drives my work. Being of mixed nationality, trying to find a solid place as a minority among minorities has been difficult. There is usually a large abundance of Japanese influence in my recent work as much of it has been focused on finding myself and who I am. The idea of finding oneself through art has always been a huge influence, as I use art as a means of therapy and work through problems by allowing my content to be the answer to my questions. Much of my work contains a child-like representation or animalistic entities; their identity is much more solid and without the questions of who or why they are. Doll-like or idealized subjects pepper themselves throughout much of my artwork. Most people either question or embrace who they are and where they came from and as such, have the ability to relate to my work.  As the world progresses into a mixed bag of nationalities and backgrounds and we are exposed more and more to other influences that may not align with our own, how does a person continue to be themselves as an individual? Do external influences cause damage by exposing us to views that differ from our own? Can our self-perceptions be shaken or contorted by others? How do others’ perceptions of us, in turn, influence our own?

Much of my current inspirations come from artists such as Dan Flavin with his work on light and color. The use of light to change the tone and context of 2D art has always interested me and the idea that the environment can change our perception has always been an exciting thing for me. Ei Arakawa is another influence due to his philosophy that accidents and mistakes are part of his process. Everything happens and it is possible that mistakes can bring about something new or undiscovered about yourself. There is a sense of rawness and reality from a freestyled piece, and the same school of thought is what draws me towards underground hip-hop as a source of constant inspiration. The content of the song or poem may be predetermined, but the execution is not.  Much of my work tends to follow the same train of thought. Content-driven but the delivery varies. Much of my decision-making is spontaneous and less about the effect that they may have on the viewer.

Printmaking has allowed the creation of much of my work to be different with each medium. With the multiple different processes and the multiple variations that are achievable by each, I am able to experiment with and adapt my artwork to fit depending on the type of print. Print is maneuverable and easy to take to the public. I appreciate the tradition of critique but I also am highly driven by the question “why not” rather than “why”.