Portfolio

Muted Echos Diptych, Charcoal on paper, 18x24 inches

The majestic cello represents my complex feelings and connection with this instrument while the floral carvings embodies my passion. Despite the challenges with a hearing disability, my passion for the cello continues to resonate strongly. The ear shaped balloon symbolizes the uncertainty of hearing with only one ear, but I am always holding onto that balloon to maintain a grasp on the auditory world and the instrument I love in the balance between sound and silence, certainty and uncertainty. The hand holding the scroll represents my determination to overcome challenges and new found resilience in the journey, encouraging those with similar struggles to be determined and fueled by passion. My young self beneath a piano bridge symbolizes my initial safety and interest in playing the piano, while the dynamic sound waves surrounding me embody my internal turmoil of difficulties with pitch recognition that I faced when playing cello with a hearing disability. The light breaking through the black cloud signifies hope, showing how perseverance can transform limitations into opportunities. Despite the struggle, perseverance leads to breaking free from the cocoon like sound wave, transforming limitations into newfound strength in the process, encouraging courage to step out of comfort zone and preserve with resilience.

Sound-waves on Hold, Mixed Media, 24x24x28 inches

The piece features three figures, each representing a different group whose voices are often overlooked from my experience and interaction with them in El Salvador: children from orphanages, whose voices and needs often go unheard in a confined world; a woman in rural community, burdened by weight of social expectations in a rural community defined in roles of mother, wife, or widow; and an elder from a mental hospital, whose complex emotions and needs remain locked away due to their mental illnesses. The shells telephone, an object that echoes both the sea's waves and the world’s sound-waves, serve as conduits for their suppressed voices, echoing their stories, struggles, and desires, while the mirror floor evokes reflection and recognize the need to hear and respond to these unheard voices. Through this artwork, I aim to foster a deeper connection with these communities and evoke a sense of responsibility to amplify their voices.

Tune the Rain, Mixed Media, 20x30 inches

This installation depicts one’s evolving understanding of the voices around them as they grow up. The hands shielding me, symbolize that as children, many of the sounds we hear are filtered through the protective hands of adults around us. The gradient blue yarn is a rain of sound with complexities of voices one encounters when growing up. The silhouette symbolizes learning to discern some sounds, to rediscover the unheard or forgotten whispers from the past, and to form a clearer understanding of our own voice amid the noise
of the world. A transition is seen, from a protected puppet to adapting to the real world.

Piecing the Lost Notes, Oil Painting, 16x20 inches

This painting depicts the silenced voices of women, left as fragment notes, rather than woven into the world’s larger melody. The rippling sound wave illuminating in the confined attic symbolize the resonance of collective voices of women that's diverse, complex, and powerful. However, the scattered music notes of women's voices were sometimes left out of the central “composition” of societal narratives. The cello embodies both my personal connection to sound and the potential of women’s unheard voices to reverberate and resonant when they are finally heard. The mirror represents reflection of every “note” and every woman’s voice in creating a more complete, and inclusive melody to reclaim visibility. I hope to highlight the beauty and significance of every woman’s voice, amplify those voices overlooked and encourage these music notes to be placed right in the world’s composition.

Step In, Listen Out, Mixed Media, 30x36 inches

The piece depicts the journey of navigating all voices in life to finding the serenity in hearing some voices clearly. The train station represents navigating the journey of life, where all the voices we encounter feel like tumultuous ocean waves that overwhelm and obscure our path, drowning out the clarity we seek. The abstract sound wave symbolize how living with a hearing disability feels like navigating intangible waves. The echoes of memories in childhood are blurred, depicted by my young self sitting on the wave of sound and looking back, distracted by the noises in the world. External noises will eventually fade, revealing reflection of oneself in a lake of own voice in the world amidst the chaos.

Beyond the Fabricate, Mixed Media, 10x10x16 inches

This installation depicts the unstable connection built on voices fabricated in the information age. The flowers with electric wire represent the seemingly glorious, radiant, and picturesque connections built on voices absorbed in the mass media in this Information Age. The figure falling symbolizes the instability of these connections because it cannot support the full range of human emotions. The voice of love depicted by vines reaching down to catch the falling one represents a genuine connection one can foster by utilizing mass media age to connect.

Resonant Voyage, Mixed Media, 24x36 inches

This piece represents my process of embracing my hearing disability. On the top left, my younger self cradling a plaster ear represents the emotional weight of internal struggles of my experience with deafness, the early tendency to hide this perceived weakness and reluctance to acknowledge my deafness. The astronaut adrift on an ear amidst the vast sea of uncertainty with overwhelming barriers of geometric waves represents how the remaining fragments of sound can serves as my life preserver of resilience in an otherwise silent world. The tension of fishing nets between subject on the left holding a fishing rod, head replaced with a goldfish symbolizing adaptation and memory, signifies the ongoing search for direction, akin to fishing in the uncertain sea of sound and the ultimate openness of hope and resilience.

One True Voice in Rhapsody, Oil Painting, 18x24 inches

This paintings of many aspects of me depicts my search of my identity in different facets of myself. The figures surrounding me embody my distinct attitudes, thoughts, and feelings isolated in their own monotune world, yet they collectively form the internal chorus of voices that constantly shape and challenge my sense of self. My experience of hearing with one ear means being unable to locate the direction of sounds in the fading away world of sound, having a sense of disorientation. However, the vibrant true self standing and resilient, shielded by soundwaves, determined not to be overwhelmed by the conflicting voices among the fragmented identity. This symbolizes my journey of finding my own voice in self-definition amidst noises of external and internal influences.

Still Life, Oil Painting, 12x16 inches

Traditional still life oil painting

Photography

The Gentle Guardian

In the cold winter days, this elderly man brings large bags of bird mix to feed the pigeons. He is surrounded by the fluttering birds in harmony. This simple yet profound warm moment in the coldness conveyed the most sincere kindness of human beings to nature.

Ephemeral Reverie

In an elevated perspective, a man leans against a balustrade thoughtfully inside the Getty museum. There is a sense of contemplation through his moment of silence of the artistic world within the museum.

Ceramics

Whale’s Tale 2023 5x6x5 - Ceramics

Whale's tale blends marine elements with surrealism that transcend the conventional constraints of time. First, the eternal waves intertwined with the flowing strands of hair of the girl on the top of the lid. I incorporated a surrealism clock from "The Persistence of Memory" to convey the unpredictability of the temporal realm in the natural world. The box utilized layering of glazes to achieve the harmonious color palette with serene hues of the ocean.

Eye of Autumn 2023 1x12x8

The Eye of Autumn is a leaf platter collection that embraces nature's beauty with ginkgo leaves that transcends the ordinary into art. The centered eye of the platters represents a connection between nature and our perceptions. The hand adorned with leaf textures evoke a sense of close connection with the natural world. The color palette reflects the mood of autumn through the warm gold, earthly turquoise, and subtle browns.