Once Upon a Time Painting

I make abstract paintings with paper. Through my work, I aim to create paintings that are profound, contemplative, meditative, and evocative. Heavy textures created by “grid-like” lines and patterns reveal a sense of decorum and order, juxtaposed with loosely and freely drawn large geometric shapes, which give the impression of freedom and ephemerality. My works are heavily process and repetition driven. I begin by applying several layers of paper on a canvas; once the layers are dried, I repeat the process of stripping down the layers and building them again. Overall, my paintings have an archeological quality, as viewers can viscerally sense and see different levels and layers of paper that have been intentionally built and destroyed, leaving elaborate and complicated traces. Once completed, it is left with an intensely and intricately textured surface laden with fiber debris from paper. My work constantly examines the theme of devotion: as an artist, I am intrigued and inspired by the mastery of quotidian details through contemplation, meditation, and dedication, as I observe everyday life itself an art form and artistic platform. In my paintings, textures, physical depth, and structures lend a feeling of devotion and alludes to the time spent on each painting.