Immigrant

Like many other immigrants, I escaped a dangerous country and settle down in the United State of America. For over 4 decades, I’ve been learning a new language and how to navigate a culture completely different from the one of my childhoods. As an artist, I’ve used my artwork to communicate and build cultural bridges with my audience.

There was a time that my artwork engaged in the identity issues of who I was. Then when I felt the topic was finished, I’ve moved onto a new theme, the “earth”. I focused on where we live and how the environment has been damaged by human hands. My paintings attract viewers through a variety of surface qualities: the vibrant hues, the thick and thin layers of paint applications, the bold lines contrasting with soft brushstrokes. If viewers take the time to explore my works, deeper images and messages can be unmasked. If I am able to convey these messages to an American audience, then I will be able to truly consider myself an American. Not only able to communicate verbally, but symbolically through my art as well.

The year 2020 has changed the way I think about my life, just as I believe it has also changed the lives of many other people. During the pandemic, racial issues as well as health related ones (masks and vaccines) have become major parts of our political standpoints, as Americans but also as global citizens. As I watched the news, read about events online, and discussed with friends, I began to rethink about the “melting pot” that is America. I used to think that my yellow skin was a part of what made America a multicultural beacon. Now I see that underneath the façade of American grandeur also reflects a violent history and a broken system.

Life was complex before the pandemic, and it’s even more bewildering now. My subject matters open up to reflect many angles of my life and the lives of others.