Not only is art a means of communication and a beautiful form of personal expression, but art is also inherently political because of what it chooses to depict/exclude. For this reason, beyond my love for the technique itself, I want to explore the ways art can be applied to bring specific issues into focus: sustainability, minority representation, gender equality, etc. I feel that the lack of diversity in the artistic canon, which greatly excludes non-European artists and women, internalized in me the idea that mimicking European art is the one correct goal for an artist. My interest in art history and “good art” was placed in what museums shone a spotlight on, and I want to reconnect with my own sense of self as an artist by being proud of my identity that falls outside of the current artistic canon. With all my current school commitments, many of them art-related, I find it difficult to bring myself to allocate the time for my personal art projects. With The Creative Process, I hope to dedicate time into implementing the ideas that have been running through my head, to broaden my creative mindset through curation and podcasts, and to share my perspective as an Asian female artist.

In the past, I’ve practiced art in the form of traditional mediums, and oil paint is still my medium of choice. My portfolio depicts mostly scenes and people in my personal life, with a touch of Surrealism. Recently, I’ve moved into using my skills in art to impact people other than myself. For example, I’m currently illustrating for the Columbia Spectator each week, and I teach art to kids at the Windham school in Harlem. 

While I’m immensely proud of what I’ve accomplished thus far, I yearn to challenge my comfort with traditional materials and do something that pushes me out of my comfort zone. Recently, when I saw Project Coelicolor at the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, designed by Natzai Audrey Chieza, I was instantly intrigued. The patterns on the textiles immediately caught my eye, the beautiful dyed/marbled effect produced using pigment-producing microbes. Chieza’s method offers an alternative to traditional dyeing methods, which pollute gallons upon gallons of fresh water with chemicals. I see Chieza’s project as an amazing mixture of art, science, and sustainability. I realized that a great next step for me as a creative would be in a more applied art, design, interdisciplinary direction. With this in mind, I even joined Design for America this semester to learn about the process of human-centered design thinking. By exploring the intersections between art, fashion, politics, sustainability, and more, I believe that I will better be able to grasp a sense of my artistic self. 

One main example of these interdisciplinary project ideas is a sculpture or fashion piece made out of everyday items which cannot be recycled but also are not biodegradable. I am also interested in photographing abstract, avant-garde fashion made from these materials in an exploration of color and form (Arielle Bobb-Willis is my greatest photography muse at the moment). I’d love to represent women of color in these photos to target stereotypes and give more representation to these underrepresented intersectional groups.