PASSING THROUGH THE TUNNEL OF TIME
Medium: Acrylic, Watercolor
I still felt at a loss during my sophomore year and made this while wondering about the role of art in my future. I incorporated some concepts from the Japanese Ukiyo-e style into the swirls that I tend to draw instinctively whenever I lose myself in time. The tunnel in the painting represents the long and ambiguous journey into the future as the person stares wistfully at the moon in the night sky with an untamed imagination.
ALTER EGOS
Medium: Acrylic, Color pencil, Marker, Gouache, Wax
This painting reflects my desire to simply be me but also reveals the layers in my personality. Just like there is a surface that we use to face the crowd, there are layers that we keep hidden as well. Each individual side resides within its own unique world, within the contrast between good and evil. I used both of my favorite colors and foods which I think are appropriate to present where the sides belong. Although my many sides can seem independent from one another, they still need each other to coexist as one. I continued to experiment with the paper cut out technique from my previous piece, “Passing through the Tunnel of Time.” I further developed the techniques with new materials and deeper layers to convey the many sides of my individuality.
CHEESE!
Medium: Water Color, Color Pencil, Clear Gesso, PVC
This piece reflects my personal childhood aversion to cheese with themes of societal expectations, and the duplicity of relationships. The painting captures the "closest" relationship role as nurturer and enforcer, while subtly alluding to the deception and betrayal inherent in some relationships. The mirror reflection and door-opening hand signify hidden intentions, urging viewers to confront the complex realities of trust and loyalty. This poignant piece invites contemplation of personal experiences with societal norms and the impact they have on our relationships and self-perception.
SELF PORTRAIT
Medium: Marker, Water Color, Acrylic
This is an experimental blind line contouring drawing I did by looking at my mirror reflection. Then I added color and transformed it into a well-rendered painting.
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THE CORRUPTION OF A CHILD’S DREAM 1/3
Medium: Acrylic, Pencil, Charcoal
This piece was inspired of usual conversations with friends revolve around the difficulty to get into colleges in China’s rigid educational structure. It is common to see Chinese parents push their children to the brink of exhaustion. I used monochrome to illustrate the kid's inner voice. These series of artwork highlight exactly how adults forcefully inculcate their doctrines onto their children. The first piece contains an abundance of contrasts between areas of color and those without. In a smaller frame, there is a black and white egg that represents the innocence of children. In a colorful but dark room, a hidden figure lurks and gets ready to critique the child’s every action. This painting is largely about the monitoring of children by their parents. It reflects how kids are controlled and rarely have freedom of will back in my homeland.
THE CORRUPTION OF A CHILD’S DREAM 2/3
Medium: Acrylic, Water Color, Pen
This second painting depicts an ominous situation conveyed and illuminated through scratchy pen lines. While the colorful liquids represent the intricate thoughts parents have compelled onto their children, the adult is intruding the boundaries and pouring the burden upon an exhausted egg.
THE CORRUPTION OF A CHILD’S DREAM 3/3
Medium: Acrylic Gouache
This last painting takes place inside of a broken egg. It shows how parents continue to keep a watchful eye on their children; even after the children have been succumbed to their tragic fates. The egg portrayed in this piece is being influenced and is slowly being taken over by the adult’s thought. While there is still some self-conscience remained within the egg, the liquid submerging the egg is slowly converting the essence of its core.
GRATEFUL FOR ANOTHER DAY
Medium: Gouache, Acrylic
Over four years, scoliosis and I have journeyed an epic battle of who twist better. In this painting, the handful of glowing flowers represents the hope. All the other matted flowers made of metal portrayed the metal brace that I have worn ever since the diagnosis. The screwy skeleton in the middle symbolizes my slithering spine that holds the only hope and prayer for a cure. This obvious contortion shows the physical depths of scoliosis. The skin vision which interacts with the skeleton represents what you see is not necessarily the truth. I illustrated the skin just like the smoke to represent that both my hopes and fears may just be a vision fading in the distance.
QUEEN TRAPPED
Medium: Acrylic, Color pencil, Carcoal
This piece reflects the vulnerability of those prone to being taken advantage of. It is not just because they are naive or stupid. Perhaps more fundamentally, they are vulnerable because this is an unequal world where the justice of all kinds is not equal to everyone. The girl inside the glass represents those vulnerable groups, the bees out there are like the evil scoundrels. The world is so not fair even though the murderer committed heinous crimes they are still out there doing as they wish.
BEHIND THE SCENE
Medium: Acrylic, Modeling paste, Velvet
I built this piece to highlight what I believe should be absolutely illegal: animal abuse. When I explored animal abuse further, I felt disheartened by the countless animals in circuses that are bred in captivity. I portrayed this caged feeling through the fish in the painting. It embodies the cruelty of human force against the animal’s will and nature. The fish are taken out of their natural environment and put into the sky, left to float holding by balloons. The human-faced balloons represent the merciless pursuit of entertainment by people. Death looms near the 3-dimensional fish I placed on the bottom left corner. I used modeling paste and fabric to emphasize the animals' desperate attempt to escape the chained up system.
LADUREE
Medium: Color Pencil, Charcoal, Mesh
I was experimenting with different types of line drawings which I was obsessed with it, and I applied it to the figures.