I create representational and figurative paintings that emanate from ethno-graphic practices and focus on interpersonal relationships. I want to reconnect with my roots by creating artworks that are based on Filipinx art and traditions. My art employs multiple processes and artistic choices that cohere with my desire to represent the people with whom I share my culture.

My paintings bring to light the various complexities of gender performance in very gendered spaces. I deploy high-key color palettes to signal contradictions between the feelings and observations that I paint, such as those between hypermasculinity and intimacy seen among men at barber shops who physically touch each other in defiance of heteronormative expectations. I apply thin passes of paint to create an ethereal, almost ghost-like depiction of my subjects because, in these spaces, I do not reveal their full selves; rather, I paint fragmented versions of them. By splitting realities between the physical world and the mirror world, my work reveals the subjects’ inner psyches.