In 2014, I traveled to Vietnam, beginning my indeterminate synthesis of traditional Vietnamese painting styles and the European canon. The marginalized bodies I depict render conflicting, complex feelings into sources of power and reclamation. My paintings materialize ephemeral experiences in order to reflect on and remember them in their ecstasies and agonies. They are ways of processing my identities and celebrating the worlds my friends and I construct and inhabit.

My compositions are collages that construct a richness beyond the emotional and historical resonances of their individual components. Whether portraying grand adventures or the banal moments of the everyday, I aspire to celebrate communal life, and inspire joy in the struggle to do so. By illustrating such joyful experiences, I am exalting these moments and exploring ways to further elaborate them. The vibrant colors, poetic compositions, and playful mark-making of my work help me reveal shared experiences, elevating them beyond individual dreams and memories.