Artist Statement

Being mixed is something I most appreciate about myself, being able to have a side in both worlds, being able to celebrate, participate, and understand both cultures is wonderful! But at times it can be difficult, I’ve never felt accepted completely to “one side” of my family. I struggled with this when I was younger, being either the only “white one” with my moms side, and being the only “asian one” on my dads. Over time I’ve grown more confident with who I am and what “Filipino” means to me. Growing up in a mostly Caucasian city, I’ve definitely been white washed. But as I get older, get back in touch with my family, and only have my mom around now I’m definitely getting back in touch with my roots. You can say the black and white I use in most of my work symbolizes the two sides of my reality. I also look up to many other asian artists, and minorities (Ray Reinsfelder, Peo Michie, and Nadine (@naydiety)). I’ve made a few works inspired by theirs (“Greed of Man”, “Solar”, and “Two Sides”). I’ve always loved art. It's what made me happy and peaceful, when everything was going wrong. For the longest time I’ve been expressing myself through my work, letting out my creativity and emotion onto paper. Since then I’ve made it into more than a hobby, after my two years at V.A.D.A. I decided to test out, and since then I have been majoring in art at SBCC.