After my last semester at Queensborough Community College in the spring of 2020, I took one semester off during the pandemic to independently devise a visual arts portfolio. Some of the pieces submitted to SUNY Purchase College when I auditioned for their Visual Interdisciplinary program, are featured here with brief descriptions of my inspirations and processes. Due to chronic numbness and worsening stress in consequence of the pandemic, I refrained from creating art between 2020-2021. Although I was accepted into the program, I completed philosophy and sociology courses outside of my declared major while healing. Shortly after, I withdrew due to the abrupt transition back to in-person learning. I was unable to afford both the costs and time of commute between the campus in Harrison and place of residence in New York, to Queens. At Queens College, I have been revisiting my artistic process with a new founded appreciation and respect. Although I continue to struggle against the physical demands of the curriculums, I am interested in what I refer to as socially and conceptually engaged practices. Directly below, is a glimpse into the development of my most recent and popular experiments. 

2021 - Present

Define me in all your ways

Shadow installation

May 13th - 17th, 2024

Acrylic hinges, acrylic screws, Plexiglass panels, flashlights, vinyl tablecloth

12"' X 12"

This series of negative relief sculptures attempts to capture a self-portrait influenced by André Breton's writings regarding the existence of The "Grand Transparents", suggesting that larger forces in the universe may "obscurely manifest themselves to us in fear and the sensation of chance" ( "Prolegomena" 216). This installation rejects the practice of viewing human bodies through conventional lighting. Instead, it asks participants to actively engage. When we interact with others, our bodies are the primary vessel in which we embody our physical and social experience. At times, we may lack emotional presence and feel sensations of "being talked at". In order to view the works in this installation, participants must look through the vessel works themselves in order to experience the depictions of bodies. This act attempts to inverse the procedure of our typical interactions and demonstrate the power in those who are treated as invisible.

Technologies of Embodiment

Living mask

2023

Adhesive, dinner plate, hot glue, make-up, sewing pin, silicone rubber, synthetic hair, resin

7" x 6" x 3" 

A study on museum practices of display regarding human specimen and portraiture.  

In the Mood for Love: Chinese Lantern Tree

Papier mâché sculptural installation 

2023

Adhesive, acrylic paint, alcohol marker, artificial leaves, cardboard, cellophane wrapping paper, clay pot, coffee, coin bank, dumbbell, plaster of paris, egg carton, foam noodle, hanger, masking paper, masking tape, ready made concrete, rice, reflective paper, rock, string lights, sawdust, tracing paper, trash bag, water-based oil paint, watercolor, wire 

7' 7" x 1' 41" x 4'

This sculptural installation made from mixed medium and found objects draws inspiration from the Chinese Lantern plant (Physalis alkekgni), Wong Kar-wai's film titled In the Mood for Love, and Chinese lantern traditions. Specifically, the romantic and liberatory qualities rooted in the history of the Lantern Festivals in ancient times. Through which, the holiday permitted unique social opportunities for women to occupy the public domain beyond curfew restrictions and traditional gender norms in order to participate in lantern viewing during nighttime. This piece, much like Wong Kar-wai's film, questions the constructive properties of love by focusing on his expression of interpersonal tensions through color and obscurity of the mundane. The fragile balance between reality and fantasy is incorporated through the artificiality in this sculpture, functioning as a metaphor for ideas related to ancestry, relationships, and intimacy. In application of papier mâché and paper folding techniques, the cyclical life of the Chinese Lantern plant is meticulously reinterpreted as a commemorative post that similarly circulates social unification. The binary opposition of nature observation and imaginative synthesis is utilized to celebrate the feeling of shared wonderment amongst varying degrees of relationships between individuals as a collectively found and assembled experience.

The Simpson's car for Mr.Burns : A Post-Electric Play

Set prop

04/20/23 - 04/30/23

Found object kinetic sculpture

4' x 4' x 6' 

Used in the second act of the play, a survivor group had formed into a travelling theatrical troupe. In their rehearsal of a Simpsons episode titled Cape Feare, the Simpson's car was constructed out of the following objects in order to reflect a post-electric world; acrylic paint, bamboo pipes, bath towel, beer bottles, bicycle wheels, cardboard, caution sign, chicken wire, children's sports scooter, colander, dart board, flamingo décor, marker, nails, PVC pipes, radio, soup cans, staircase knobs, string, telephone, trash can lid, washing board, window pane, and found wood.

Drawing & Painting Studies

01/23 - 05/23

The Performer & The Performer's Shadow

Painting and Drawing

2023

Acrylic and oil paint on canvas / Graphite and white conte on toned paper

24" x 30" & 14" x 18" 

Ceramics Studies

01/23 - 05/23

Tell-Tale Heart Teapot & Glizzy Goblin, The Human Vessel

Ceramic

2023

Red clay, underglaze, acrylic paint, alcohol marker, varnish

4" x 6" x 10" & 4" x 6" x 12 1/2" 

Digital Photography 

08/22 - 12/22

YOU TREATED OUR LOVE LIKE IT WAS A PARTY YOU THREW JUST FOR US AND NOW THE PARTY'S OVER AND EVERYONE IS GONE

Fundamentals of Art

08/22 - 12/22

Looking Back Seeing Forward

Digital photography

2022

Digital collage

4 1/2" x 7"

A digital "sketch" of layered photos, conceptually exploring the ironic and strange presence of nostalgia when attempting to envision the different kinds of possible futures one has for themselves. This image includes a flyer I caught myself day dreaming about, a new hobby of sorts, created for a fantasy occupation in a career I am still imagining. The background of the "business cards" features digitally altered collages of my previous work, titled Passing Time. 

Us, We, We too

Drawing with digital alterations

2021

Sharpie marker on paper

4" x 4"

Inspired by The Black School, an experimental art school teaching radical Black history, and Las Imaginistas, a socially engaged art collective building a culture of liberty for all beings, this series was created as a visual representation of sociologist Charles Horton Cooley's theory of the looking-glass self and George Herbert Mead's concept of self. Made to be shown alongside other artworks as part of a group project, this contribution was made for an art course taken at Queens College in the spring semester of 2022 titled ARTS 333, Introduction to Socially Engaged Art Projects with Professor Alicia Grullon. These pieces demonstrate the three elements of the looking-glass self, how the "I" imagines its appearance to others, what the "I" imagines others think of the "me", and how the "I" revises its identity based on the imagined judgements others cast upon the "me". Beginning as a sketch Us features two side profiles, which were then duplicated digitally and shrunk in order to create two faces which feature the frontal view. The box recurring in both We and We Too are meant to symbolize the confinements of perception as reality, later evolving with the addition of color in the last piece. These works demonstrate a system of ideas related to the socialization of subjectivity and reflections of the social-self. 

Invisible Man

Relief sculpture

2021

Clear clay on picture frame with spotlight

18" x 22"

This piece was "completed" as an illustration to be removed. The portrait of an invisible man was created using clear clay, stretched and arranged on the glass picture frame. Afterwards, a light was shined through to help render the invisible silhouette of the man, as visibly legible. The piece only exists in the minds of those who remember it and this photo.

2015 - 2020

Samples of Auditioning Pieces for SUNY Purchase College

Spring 2021

Asthma

After posing for a photo reference, the image was digitally manipulated to saturate, invert, and arrange colors for drafting. The digital self-portrait was then hand rendered, drawing inspiration from an Introduction to Art Therapy class at Queensborough Community College. The lesson explored how medical supplies in hospital settings were mediums for artwork, associating positive reinforcement with the promotion of emotional and physical healing. This piece, was an assignment reflecting on the nebulizer mask. Having suffered from lifelong asthma, the artificial relief of breathing was symbolically represented by the synthetic flower's placement within the mask. The pose is often reminiscent of the long waiting period for the medication to completely vaporize. The layers of mediums enhance the uncomfortably vibrant colors, embodying the strangely strong sensations experienced from the medication.

THINK WIDE OPEN or The drawing hand draws itself

The drawing was created on a park bench, one of the rare places often visited to escape sibling abuse during the pandemic. Suffering from social anxiety, the gestured tracing eased the panic of being present within a public setting. The drawing hand was depicted drawing itself from observation, actively engaged and distracted from overstimulation. The gesture drawing was started at the pen, indicating the tip and point of origin for the pose. As the drawing continued to the other components of the pen, more information was observed regarding the relations of the pen, to the grip and proportions of the hand. After each mark, the drawing hand returned to the initial pose of the drawing in order to study it more accurately. It is a gestured tracing of the hand as it draws and observes itself creating itself.

To think wide open, is to consider the intersectionality of conceptualism and its moral responsibility to care for the ecological spheres we inherit. In this regard, the statement may be interpreted as a demoralizing resilience to pursue justifiable principles and purposes without the validations of others. However, the ability to do so with persistent optimism acquires power to challenge normalized ideas and truths. The responsibility of this burden, is the struggle endeavored to incite change while considering one's own existence and reflexivity regarding human suffering. For we reflect and/or repress the conformities and passiveness in rhyming eras of vanity. In knowing this, we determine our self worth through cultivated personal greatness to remedy the pain of cognitive dissonance. On the other hand, whether we succeed will always remain as a formidable uncertainty. We must understand that our thoughts are glimpses to what is closed to us, projected influences constructing on the previous discernments of life. Nevertheless, our pilgrimage into the future builds and tears down the structures of our past so that others may consider their view with ours included.

If I could give you a better tomorrow

Ambivalent about explicit art, this performative sculpture invites the viewer to look into the clouds. The title suggests the limitations of our abilities to uplift others. If the viewer could immerse themselves within the hope of a better tomorrow, just for a moment, this piece may emulate the beauty of a captured cloudy day. It is simply pulled pieces of cotton within a plastic snow globe tied to a string on either end, then suspended and filled with water. In spinning the globe, the piece whirls and mimics the clouds moving through the sky within lighting. It is meant to be a sculpture for universal consumption and repetition.  

EIGHT

A palindrome much like a reflection, may be understood both vertically and horizontally. The words included in this piece are as followed; step, pets, time, and emit. The design may be read clockwise or counter clockwise, encouraging the viewer to rotate the design. The outer layer was arranged by rotating the surrounding letters 90 degrees from starting letters S' and P'. The inner layer was arranged by both 180 degree rotations and reflections. The layered texts created depth, refracting the digital painting much like a glitch. Lastly, the primary colors created a cyclical narration throughout the design's alternating transparencies of text.

Shadow tracing

Revisiting the park, a glass picture frame was placed on a dark, flat surface resting on the artist's lap. In order to capture the reflection of leaves from a tree above, black acrylic paint was used to trace the contour. The glass picture frame was then placed on a scanner with white paper, enhanced digitally to redefine contrast. To cope with social anxiety, shadow tracing draws inspiration from Islamic art and the notion of abstaining from depictions of human or animal representation. The painting celebrates the inability to perfectly render the repetitions of nature's design while admiring its beauty.

TEN

After painting a Francis Bacon self-portrait onto her face, a photo was taken in front of a colorful collared shirt and mirror. The photo was then digitally manipulated to saturate the colors, and then hand rendered using layers of paint, marker, and pen on paper. The painting was then scanned and digitally manipulated, enhancing the emotional experience of drifting into a dissociative state. Lastly, the painting was repeated in layers and tilted to create an abstracted landscape of faces. The hazy colors of surreal figurations symbolically represent the melancholic euphoria of disconnecting into an imagined reality, a duality of cognitive dissonance.

Land of

Drawn from imagination, each face within the landscape was individually rendered without drafting, starting at the bottom of the page and progressing towards the horizon. Completed in classroom settings, train rides, and buses, the drawing was finished in transitory locations. During an unstable point in the artist's life, the drawing expresses fearing unknown strangers. Inspired by a drawing within a manga titled Berserk, the monstrous landscape is a macro shot of a nightmarish scenery.

Anywhere but here

In her boyfriend's car, the observational drawing depicts the claustrophobic confines of transportation. The vehicle served as a sort of "safe haven", containing inspiration, creativity, and adventure. With the constant need for escape, Anywhere but here is the point of destination, liberation, and love. In order to evoke the feeling of freedom, the windows, mirrors, and glass panels were cut out and replaced with tranquil sceneries and floral vegetation. The paraphernalia found throughout the piece documents the personal items and materials of daily activities during the pandemic. In the passenger's seat, the artist is depicted depicting the depiction.

My heart is an inoperable fidget spinner 

My heart is an inoperable fidget spinner, folded with the New York Post's cover Nailbiter, a right leaning conservative newspaper. The anxiety felt after election day, was reinforced with blue and red stitching on opposite sides. However, the large size and weight of the heart shaped fidget spinner makes it inoperable. Utilizing newspaper emphasizes the social attitudes of polarized media platforms and the dangers of obtaining physical items considering the ongoing pandemic and limitations of outdoor activity. The experience of election anxiety was echoed through a fidget spinner, a trending toy in 2017 believed to increase focus by mitigating nervousness through idle distractions. President Biden's victory was symbolized with blue thread over the image of nail-biting, emphasizing the uncertainty to follow this historic event. The combination of these meanings generates a disheveled piece categorized by contradictions.

wasitacatisaw

An observational self-portrait was completed on a glass picture frame placed on a dark, flat surface resting on the artist's lap. Closing one eye, layers of blue and brown dry erase markers captures the outline of the artist. The tracing was then scanned with white paper, and digitally altered to enhance the saturation and contrast of colors. The title suggests the irony in reflections, as well as, the supplemental video to document the ambiguity and difficulty in capturing the representation of oneself. The essence, subjective to the viewer and the perspective of perception.

Cataclysm of Optimism 

Filmed locally, the short poetry read narrates the collaged sceneries of New York's inner Queens' neighborhood, Pomonok. It recounts wandering thoughts, reminiscing daydreams explored in familiar settings of new everyday life in the pandemic while exploring where creative expressions merge.