Title: Creepy Vegetables
Year: 2023
Medium: Pen on paper
Dimension: 15”x 13”
Description: To many children, vegetables seem scary and gross. With weird textures and bitter flavors, children alienate themselves from foods that their parents tell them are healthy. The vegetables in this piece are depicted as grotesque creatures, complete with eyes, warts, and unsettling textures, highlighted by the details of utilizing pens to embody a child's exaggerated fear. The mother presents this delectable palate to her child who reaches his arm out in fear, begging his mother to take that plate away from him.
Title: Squished?
Year: 2024
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimension: 30”x 24”
Description: When you are a kid you squish your face against all sorts of germy surfaces. Drawing from my own experiences, particularly during foggy car rides, I remember how I would trace patterns on the misty glass while squishing my face to peek outside. This piece highlights the joy and humor found in seeking a "better" view or simply enjoying the moment.
Title: Imagination
Year: 2023
Medium: Mixed Media
Dimension: 12”x 30”x 10"
Description: This piece is inspired by the sock puppets I made as a child with my sister and friends, which fueled my creativity and imagination. Each puppet was uniquely crafted with the power to entertain me and my friends for hours as we made up backstories and make-believe scenarios for each one. By combining the puppets with clouds, a symbol of dreams and imagination, this artwork represents the whimsical and imaginative nature of my childhood play.
Title: Sad Fairytale
Year: 2023
Medium: Mixed Media
Dimension: 20”x 16”x 2”
Description: While most fairytales depict happiness, this piece reflects the harsh realities of modern society. Young fairies tend to a distressed baby seal entangled in a net, with a background of landfill debris and factory smoke. The fairies, often associated with childhood imagination and dreams, represent the innocence and empathy children typically display. By contrasting childhood imagination with environmental destruction, this artwork highlights the need for compassion and urges us to protect the planet for future generations.
Title: Shadows of Death
Year: 2024
Medium: Mixed media
Dimension: 48”x 36”
Description: The wonder and magic of making shadow puppets is a universal childhood experience. These magical shadows are darkened by the smoky scene of deforestation as the bird shadows are attempting to flee the scene. As pollution and climate change continue to tarnish the world we must fight against deforestation and work towards a better and cleaner future. This way shadow puppets will no longer be puppets of death but rather puppets of life, full of imagination and creativity.
Title: Date Night
Year: 2021
Medium: Graphite pencil
Dimension: 16”x 12.5”
Description: This still life represents symbols of a girl’s first date. After being sent flowers by her boyfriend she immediately tends to the flowers and places them in a vase. She sits by the telephone every waking moment waiting for the telephone to ring. This captures the common experience of a youthful first love.
Title: I Love Turkey
Year: 2021
Medium: Graphite on paper
Dimension: 16”x 12”
Description: As a child, my family would visit Disneyland almost every weekend, not for the rides, but for the food. Sharing a massive turkey leg became a cherished tradition, with my sister and I battling over the comically large meal. This drawing captures the joy of my sister indulging in the turkey leg, with turkeys in the background adding playful irony and highlighting the humorous contrast between our delight and the meal’s source.
Title: Mudpies
Year: 2024
Medium: Watercolor on paper
Dimension: 11”x 15”
Description: One of my favorite things to do in elementary school was to make mudpies. My friends and I would act like professional chefs as we gathered all sorts of knick-knacks during recess to form our beautiful muddy creations. The children in my painting get to live this fantasy of being able to create mudpies in a professional industrial kitchen. The kids are busy at work creating their Michelin star confections reflecting the endless possibilities found in simple mud.
Title: Phone Addiction
Year: 2023
Medium: Mixed media
Dimension: 13”x 17”
Description: A long time ago, before plastic and phones, children used to play in nature. This piece contrasts the joy of past childhoods with today's technology-driven isolation. The watercolor background reflects the serenity of nature while the vibrant colors of the bouncy house are captured by the color pencil. This piece highlights the shift in social dynamics, emphasizing the growing disconnect between children and physical play in a world dominated by screens.
Title: Classroom Mischief
Year: 2024
Medium: Acrylic on paper
Dimension: 15”x 12”
Description: Children chew on pencils just like beavers chew on wood. A beaver sits in a classroom gnawing happily on his pencil, and their peers are also chewing on various wooden school supplies. The beaver’s behavior captures the mischievousness and curiosity of children. The vibrant colors and comic bubbles also evoke a sense of playfulness and childishness of youth.
