It Got Personal...

The process of creating art has been a very personal journey for me in the past 14 years.  I've had an interest in art since I was a child and recall doing sketches of Madonna's "Like a Virgin" and "True Blue" albums.  I loved studying art history in high school and at UCLA.  However, growing up in a financially struggling working class immigrant family, I did not want to spend my life struggling as my parents had.  As a consequence, I made a "safe" choice in profession and pursued finance.  My interest in creating art resurfaced about 14 years ago when my partner, Scott, and I decided to pick up some acrylic paints, canvases and paint brushes.  At that point, making art was a way for me to unwind from stressful, yet mundane, days of staring at numbers.  It was a way for me to gratify the other half of my brain.  Then, in October 2000, it got personal...

My father was diagnosed with liver cancer on Halloween Day 2000.  We were told his remaining time here was uncertain and could range from anywhere between six months to two years.  My dad went on to live for another year and nine months from the time of his diagnosis.  Let's say I was an unpredictable emotional mess during this period.  I had more anguish than I knew what to do with.  Thankfully, I found consolation in my art.  Each time I painted, I exorcised a demon.

Since then, my works have gone on to become personal journals that document my observations and explorations of my surroundings, humanity, states of being, and spirituality.  Everything I create is true to who I am.  My ultimate goal as an artist is to provoke anything but indifference from the observer.