As someone who is half-Chinese and travels to China frequently, I am very much inspired by Chinese culture. China is divided between the traditional and modern, the rural and urban, the rich and the poor. I made an effort to capture that essence through my photographs to communicate the versatility of Chinese people, history, and culture.
Except for one or two, my other photographs primarily feature people and places at St. Mary's College of Maryland, another environment that is just as significant to me as China is, though completely different. China is very vast and diverse, bustling with so many people that it is easy to feel lost and directionless. Small and rural, St. Mary's can sometimes be limiting, yet also creates a stronger sense of intimacy and comforting familiarity that I value.
Both of my experiences in each place have helped shape who I am today. I am personally invested in the idea of splitness; I am both biracial and bipolar, and therefore I am able to identify with the idea of belonging to two places at once or being pushed and pulled in two different directions. Combining photographs from China and St. Mary's in a shared space demonstrates their boundaries and opposing differences, but at the same time conveys a sense of connection among them.
My sketches on the other hand are much more multifaceted and random, but the theme of division is once again present. I feature some work that is detail-oriented and specific, and others that are more broad and vague. I mainly experiment with black ink pens and oil pastels, and sometimes combine the two.