Paintings

Biracial #5 (Bloodline)

oil on wood & mdf
2006-2007
60" x 28" x 2"
collection of Thomas Aguilera

Constrain

oil on wood & mdf
2005
68" x 68" x 2"
collection of Tandem Public Relations

Boundaries (diptych)

acrylic on canvas
2004
60" x 80"
collection of Ladonna Nicolas & Larry Shapin

Stereotyped

acrylic on canvas
2001
36" x 36 "
collection of Merrily Orsini & Fredrick Heath, KY

New American Minority

acrylic on canvas
2001-2005
48" x 48 "
collection of Henry Schein INC, NY

Untitled

acrylic on canvas
2005-2006
48" x 48 "
collection of Gill Holland & Augusta Brown

America Series #1 (diptych)

acrylic on canvas
2003
48" x 54"
collection of the artist

Biracial #4 (triptych)

acrylic on canvas
2003-2004
50" x 80"
collection of Henry Schein INC, NY

Biracial (triptych)

acrylic on canvas
2005
12" x 36" x 3"
collection of Freida and James Arth, NM

Biracial #1

acrylic on canvas
2001
36" x 36"
collection of David and Amy Kern, KY

There Goes the Neighborhood

acrylic on canvas
2001
48" x 48"
collection of Mr. and Mrs. James Millar, KY

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obstacle/obstaculos (triptych)

acrylic and inkjet print on canvas
2005
36" x 42"
collection of Ladonna Nicolas & Larry Shapin

Intensity Surrounding a Union

acrylic on canvas
2003
36" x 36 "
collection of Ladonna Nicolas

Oceans Closer (diptych)

acrylic on canvas
2001
36" x 42 "
collection of Bob & Blair Possenreide, NY

Equilibrium #1

acrylic on canvas
2001
36" x 36 "
private collection, WA

Equilibrium #4

acrylic on canvas
2006
36" x 36 "
collection of Dr. Deidre Hilliard

Equilibrium #5

acrylic on canvas
2006
44" x 44 "
collection of David McGuire & Shawn Hadley

Equilibrium #6

acrylic on canvas
2006
44" x 44 "
collection of Donghai Guan, Beijing, China

Statement

My works are primarily an exploration and visual representation of the self as an image. It is in this iconographic style, that I aim to evoke a conversation about identity, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, while illustrating the way we use these labels to simplify society as a whole. My use of geometric form and a limited palette typically classifies my paintings as abstract. However, my use of color is symbolic, as each color represents different segments of the world’s population. Therefore, the shape, position, and size of the colored forms become a comment on race, class, stereotypes, and identity in America and the world. The relationship among the colors is a revelation about domination, conflict, separation, and harmony among races and cultures.

My use of color in my paintings, reduce complicated matters of identity to simple elements, much like society does. The tension created between simplistic forms representing complex subjects allows the viewer to contemplate how the presumptions and reactions of others affect how we see ourselves. By compartmentalizing these divisions within a culture, I aim to catch the viewer in some level of profiling and preconception. By this subversive confrontation, I hope to challenge the viewer to question where they stand in the mix and contemplate the depth of one’s own identity.

The painting New American Minority can be seen as a comment on how irrational fear and misunderstanding toward the arrival of Asian peoples homogenizes a variety of cultures and identifies them as “other,” The work could be viewed simply as a classic minimalist painting, but a darker side of my vision surfaces only in the title where the true meaning of the colors are revealed. The contrasting colors form a visual tension between black and white lines that symbolize black and white America, while the interjection of yellow lines that symbolize Asian America represents the struggle to integrate into an already segregated society.