photo taken by Haven Aili
bio
Born in Aurora, Co, I grew up moving around between family members. I spent time at various places in Indonesia, California, and Colorado. Drawing was my favorite hobby, and the only thing that I could rely on to express myself in times of loneliness and hardship. But that was all it was meant to be: a hobby. I spent most of my early education changing my mind about what I wanted to do for a living, and then settling on biochem engineering once I was in high school. After years of engineering classes, internships, and finally being admitted into Colorado School of mines, I was unsatisfied and could never picture myself in the position. Although I hadn't officially started making art until the end of my junior year of high school, I finally decided to change my mind one last time and pursue what truly makes me happy: being an artist.
I am now an interdisciplinary artist based in Chicago, IL, currently studying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for a Bachelor's in Fine Arts with an emphasis on Art Education. Knowing the importance of art and how positively it impacted me, i am inspired to become an art teacher, so I can help the next generation express themselves in their own unique way. I have most recently been working in acrylic paint and video art, however i also create mixed-media collage, marker drawings, and sculptures through the use of found objects. I use these mediums to channel emotions from my first hand experiences, raise awareness for major world Issues that I care about and hope people can relate to.
my hope for the future is to graduate from SAIC and become a high school art teacher. I plan on teaching for several years while being a part-time studio artist. My dream is to eventually become a full-time studio artist and professor at a fine arts school, where i can continue my passion of bringing art to others.
Artist Statement
I have always struggled to communicate to others through words, and since I first started drawing as a child, the focus of my art was always communicating the deeply personal emotions i have at the moment, and allowing others to look into these intimate pieces of my life to better understand me. I've come a long way since then, picking up new skills and finding different ways to express myself. i love to experiment with new concepts and mediums. as of now, My mediums include: painting, video art, marker, mixed-media/digital collage, and sculpture through the use of found objects. I continue to create art for others to better understand who i am as an individual, but i am now more focused on being a voice for others to show they are not alone in their experiences. I am able to achieve this by creating relatable narratives for my pieces, confirmed by personal experience. As an interdisciplinary artist, I find it is necessary to adjust my art-making to accommodate what I want to portray or investigate, whether this means creating something different by combining mediums I am already familiar with, or learning a new form of art-making completely. I first started sculpting with trash, recyclables, and secondhand items that I layered and glued together, repurposing it into something beautiful. learning from that, I took the collage and layering method from my sculpting into all my other practices, resulting in the style that I have today.
A lot of my inspiration stems from my sense of touch and experiencing different textures in everyday objects. I enjoy bringing together materials that would otherwise never meet, and creating an unexpected combination. Petroleum Jelly against the rough grit of a strip of velcro, or plastic wrap on canvas stretchers; Whatever story i want to tell, there are a million different combinations to choose from until i find the right one, and a million more combinations to inspire another story. While porcelain is smooth and delicate, the softness is disrupted by the sharp edges making it a dangerous, almost defensive material. This observation is what inspired the sculpture "glass" (2019), which portrays a fragile state of mind unwilling to trust others. while textures inspire me, I am influenced most by my personal first-hand experiences. because art was such a comforting practice growing up, I always go to my art making in order to clear my head and properly digest what is happening around me. As a result, my artwork is a product of whatever sadness, joy, frustration, or excitement i am experiencing. this is especially clear in my Pavilion four series where i turn my traumatic experience into a body of work about mental health. Another example is the frustrations i have as a woman who is afraid to walk alone at night. "Walking in the city"(2020) is a satirical commentary on the absurdities that women must put up with when considering walking alone. While these pieces all express my personal emotions, they are all relatable circumstances that others may be frustrated with as well. My hope is that this sense of inclusion will not only comfort people and validate their feelings, but that it will also raise awareness and start a discussion on how to prevent these circumstances.
although my end goal for art-making is always to create an expressive and relatable work of art, the journey to create the piece is never the same. I usually work on multiple bodies of work at the same time and approach each piece differently according to the narrative or purpose of the work. I've had many pieces that I plan down to the brushstroke and with multiple sketches before beginning like "Last Supper"(2020), and many more works that are a result of spontaneity such as "Drippy Face"(2020), with no planning or clear intention. The most difficult part, however, is knowing when I'm done. oftentimes, i find that my work is never complete, and i find it difficult to stop working on a piece that I love, or difficult to complete a piece i hate. To avoid getting too familiar with my individual pieces, i try to stop when it is 75% complete and leave it alone for a few days where I can't see it and work on other things. I then come back to slowly make finishing touches little by little and go back to other pieces. one of my favorite things about working on multiple pieces at once is that whatever methods, concepts, and mediums i use for one project, eventually bleeds into the next and inspiring something new.This can either become an innovative new idea or a big mess where everything looks the same. I know that a piece of art i've made is complete when i have seen the piece again for the first time in days, and start desperately trying to add these seemingly innovative new ideas, but not being excited by it. at this point there is no more that needs to be done.
The specific bodies of work I am working on currently:
"Pavilion Four Series"- the Pavilion Four Series is a collection of work inspired by my stay at the mental hospital. I first began this series while in the emergency room, taking notes on my surroundings and then eventually drawing what i saw and felt. I am currently working on paintings to accompany the marker drawings, and outlining a linear narrative that can be used to organize the positioning and placement of my pieces in an exhibition setting. My ultimate goal is to be able to host a solo exhibition with these works, and raise awareness on mental health.
"zoom" - Because of the covid19 pandemic, zoom has become a part of everyday life. acclimating to a new way of going to school or work can be stressful. One thing I believe that can relieve some of the stress is to have a zoom background that is fun to look at and be in. this is a collection of designs is meant to be used as zoom backgrounds. Each image is free to download and be used in zoom meetings. the whimsical backgrounds brighten up the screen and can make others feel more comfortable in the learning space, while also providing privacy from other students looking into your home. I wanted to create accessibility to interesting zoom backgrounds to liven up class time and make you more comfortable. This project is an ongoing body of work that I will continue to add to.
"quarantine"- because of the covid19 pandemic, i have been spending most of my time indoors and alone. This solitude has given me the chance to explore the small details of my home and experiment with photography. I am currently working on turning the compositions from the photographs into paintings portraying warm solitude in order to express the comfort and safety i feel in the house.
Previous Shows and Features
Homescape (2019) - One night group exhibition at The Franklin; curated by Edra Soto piece shown- "chicago" (2019) - mixed media collage
photo taken by Sam Bulleit
Photo taken by Marwan Ramen