Studio Work

Artist Statement

South & Clinton are mixed media collage paintings that connect to how I construct the layers of my identity in the context of New York City, contextualization of my identity and how I've come to understand my identity now.

My family, the women, matriarchs of my family who raised me, their experiences have influenced much of who I have become. We have had varied experiences within this same environment. If my grandmother immigrated to a different city or country - how different would I be? My mother, who grew up in the same neighborhood as I did, had a very different childhood experience - what impact did that have when she decided to raise her children in the same place. South & Clinton was developed to integrate the layers of how identity can be shaped by interconnected moments through time.

The cobblestone on the street I walked to and from school, scratched up panels in the housing project’s elevator or a fabric my grandmother has had since before I was born. It's these quiet aspects that I layer into the larger moments that have been interwoven into my identity. These images capture the energy of the neighborhood but also the familiarity that anyone who has grown up here might recognize. What makes us who we are and why are those aspects so important to reflect upon?  

My research examines how I understand my own teacher identity within the context of structures like educational policy. What have I experienced that has shaped my teacher identity? What structures do I work within that have influenced what I have seen and experienced to make me the arts educator I am today. By better understanding these structures or frameworks - I can better navigate and advocate for myself and my students as artists. 

22 Orchard/66 Bayard,  contends with the idea of generational changes of a place - with aspects that once were now gone because of gentrification or had to adapt to the waves of changes constantly occurring. My grandmother who had lived in Chinatown for decades visited a ‘new’ pizza shop - one of many new shops constantly popping up in the neighborhood. Or the restaurant we went to every weekend since we were little kids, now a ‘must visit’ tourist destination. It feels like a full circle moment - surviving the changes to a place so intrinsic to the history of my family and how that history of this place has shaped my identity. In both my studio and research, I look to examine those layers individually and how these layers merge and interact in order to truly understand who I am as an educator and maker. 

In my research, I examine my own teacher experiences that have shaped my teacher identity. My aim is to better understand the educational policies (Like the Every Student Succeeds Act) that art educators operate within and determine how the arts are or are not provided for in public education. In doing so, I hope to understand what place I am operating within as an arts educator to better advocate for my program in my school. 

The multiple ways to explore how we as artists approach understanding those factors of identity and how the intricate layers that exist internally are also influenced by external factors. The materials we use and combine that inform how those layers interact within each other - creates a new understanding of identity construction that can be multilayered and specific to each person.