60.96 by 30.48cm
Two Koi
Acrylic on canvas
2015 September
“Two Koi” was inspired by both Chinese and Japanese art. This series is based on a myth of the koi fish and what they mean to both cultures. There were many different stories that described why the koi fish mean so much to both cultures, but the colors as symbolism were the same for both. Another symbol in this series would be the koi going up or downstream. Upstream means in a battle or struggle but not giving up and downstream means not having the strength to get through your obstacles yet.
23cm by 15cm
Octopus
Ink on paper
2015 October
This block print was inspired by an artist named Laura Murdoch who amazed me with her work. She made a hand carved, hand printed, woodblock print of an octopus which looked amazing. It inspired me to look more into octopus and try and create one myself which is how I came up with this Octopus. I made this block print to learn more about how to draw an octopus and even learn different things about one. I wanted to make this into a block print because I wanted it to be a scary octopus and the black makes the meaning deeper.
40.46cm by 50.8cm
Seashells
Acrylic on canvas board/ mixed media
2015 November
This mixed media piece was inspired by Matisse’s green stripe and I decided to create this because my mom brought me back some seashells from Puerto Rico. This made me think about how little I know about my culture and where I came from. I visited about two years ago and saw the environment and the beaches which is why half of my face is orange and pink, because I was exposed to that side of my life. The colors are warm colors because I wanted to make them related to the skin tone and to catch the viewer’s eye.
Happy Dolphin
Acrylic on canvas board
2015 November
This piece was inspired by an artist named Stephanie Burns. She inspired me with her amazing use of paint and making whales look so realistic with stippling. I wanted to also relate this piece to Impressionism because it is one of my favorite movements and I wanted to try and use brush stokes to also create form and see what I was able to create.