Stray 2021
Digital Video, 53 seconds.
This experimental work is created by layering multiple videos I recorded of myself, my friends, and my surroundings on top of a stop-motion video. Stray 2021 embodies the more vulnerable side of me, exploring my experience of going back to school after an unprecedented pandemic. The green figure, which travels and encounters other intricate cut-out figures, represents me. As “I” (the green figure) interact with other shapes, I am affected by various elements like beads, strings, rusted iPhone pieces, and photo collages that represent words from other people directed towards me. As various elements consume “me”, I lose my sense of individuality, once markedly visible by my shape and color. I also thought that this piece is reflective of people’s experience living in the year 2021, where we are constantly exposed to misleading information, political polarization, and social media that lead us to further identity confusion.
Self Portrait
Printmaking, Spray paint, paper
16in X 20in X 7in
In this unconventional approach to self-portraiture, I accentuated the dual and ambiguous qualities that constitute me. My attitude sometimes shifts into jagged spikes or smooth curves, depending on the context I run into. At times, I limit myself to the boundaries I established for myself, while at others, I choose to explore uncharted grounds. Various colors are stacked upon one another, making my true color unclear. Through varying elevation, I intend to represent that the more protruding shapes and colors are parts of me that are easily perceived by others. Beneath the initial impression, lies my dormant personality and fundamental motivations.
Elements of Identity
Spraypaint on Paper
6ft X 10ft
Every individual is unique in their forms of self-expression and their inborn characteristics. Each person that I get to encounter expresses his or her personality through different shapes and colors. All of these shapes originated from the same stencil pattern but diverges in many directions. I arranged a composition on the wall to show their own individuality and uniqueness, while all fitting together as a whole. Among various figures, stands me who has yet to embody my true identity.
Top of Top
Spraypaint on Paper
36in X 47in X 36in
Our life is ceaselessly fueled by our desire for upward social mobility. The longing may derive from our wanting to escape poverty, earn prestigious entitlements, or amass social influence. Regardless of what the motivation may be, they all originate from our passion to become our better selves. As a seventeen-year-old who is soon to join the adult’s world, I want to question what will fuel me through hardships and allow me to rise to the top. Will it be my yearning to aid my hard-working single mother financially, or will it be to find my self-worth from external factors?