I'm a storyteller; I love to share my experiences--and the experiences of others--through various mediums: oral tangents in conversations, essays written in the wee hours of the morning, and most significantly, my artwork.
My oil painting, A Eulogy for the Perennial, was displayed at the Asian Art Museum in collaboration with the artist Amanda Phongbhodipikiya for a project called "Letting our Art Speak." This piece illustrated my family's history in Japanese internment camps, their nursery, and my experience with Buddhism as a Sansei (third generation Japanese-American). I utilized canvas panels to replicate stage-like altars inside Buddhist temples and painted my family's nursery in diluted sienna, using a grainy black and white photo from the forties for reference. In the foreground, a weathered pair of hands delicately hold Juzu prayer beads, and an obscured bust explodes with roots grasping onto the entirety of the canvas. Each thoughtful brushstroke blooms with the stories of my ancestry.
However, I also use art to discover stories. Some of my most meaningful pieces are born from spontaneity and instinct, helping me understand feelings that are too intense and visceral to verbalize. Upon feeling an impulse to work with my hands on a larger project using industrial materials, I began aimlessly cutting and contorting wires of different gauges, adding texture and dimension with a pair of pliers. I used these bits of wire to form a spine, then a ribcage, and finally a pelvis, which I grounded with concrete and brandished clay. What started as mindless experimentation resulted in a 3.5 foot skeletal statue, the piece that I am most proud of. Taking a step back from my work, I saw the deeper meanings which were unknowingly engraved in each detail; my feelings at the time of ambivalence towards my body, viewing it as a burdensome vessel for work rather than a gift, could be seen in the prominence of negative space and the weight of the harsh materials. Stories extracted from my art at their conclusion are just as meaningful as those intentionally planned from the beginning.
Film had always fascinated me, but my knowledge of cinema was simplistic, focusing exclusively on visual elements. However, when I attended a film workshop taught by Ronald Chase, my eyes were opened to the immersive realms within classical film. We watched acclaimed pieces such as Ju Dou and Andrei Rublev, discussing not only their techniques but also the historical, political, and philosophical aspects explored within these cinematic worlds. It was this discovery of film's interdisciplinary nature that expanded my interest in the artform; I was excited to find that the varied humanities and social science subjects which I am instinctively drawn to were unified under this singular medium.
I found that the more I engaged in the different domains cinema explores, the deeper my understanding of film became. In light of this, I focused my academics within these disciplines, studied social sciences and the humanities at the University of St. Andrews, and dedicated myself to independent reading of both obscure and seminal works in such fields. Reading Das Kapital, for example, aided my comprehension of the film Berlin: Symphony of a Great City.
In addition to film analysis, I have developed my filmmaking skills by creating short pieces focusing on techniques such as intercutting, montage, and point of view. Given that small independent films do not have the facilities to hire someone to oversee each unit of production, it became incumbent on me as a student director to cultivate a multitude of skills. Thus, I practiced different forms of visual art at my local studio, as well as screenwriting independently.
Writing scripts without the intention of adapting them into films, has given me the freedom to delve into character dynamics and create intricate stories without restricting my creativity to the realities of budgets, time constraints, and technological barriers.
Each element of film analysis and filmmaking that I have explored demonstrates the freedom of this widely diverse artform. There are countless ways to interact with film, and I hope to become better acquainted with set design, costuming, and scoring elements of filmmaking in future projects.
Ironically, a characterizing flaw in the age of information is the dissemination of disinformation; internet echo chambers and extremism reach influenceable brains on a mass scale, generating waves of harmful ignorance and unfounded hatred. Throughout my formative years, I had the privilege of learning how to identify unbiased media in school and at home. In consequence, I have sought to ensure that today's impressionable youth receive the same quality of factual media in order to combat the spread of hate.
To execute this goal, I created zines discussing the etymology of charged terms which are carelessly spewed in the media and undermine the neutrality of information. Using Procreate, I drew a digital template featuring eight panels of information on the history, implications, and alternatives to the term "third-world country." I shared this zine digitally with several Bay Area schools, so they could distribute copies to their students.
Furthermore, I have emphasized the subversion of stereotypes within my social justice initiatives, creating an all-inclusive chapter of Generation Ratify to dispel the characterization of feminism as an exclusive movement. As chapter lead, I helped educate my community about healthcare inequities for women of color, policies such as H.R.666 that would work to undo these injustices, and the benefits for people of all identities established by the Equal Rights Amendment. This education took the form of info meetings where I discussed ongoing political struggles for gender equality, infographics that aimed at making significant data accessible, and outreach initiatives.
At times, I became overwhelmed with the amount of information penetrating the news cycle about crises occurring simultaneously around the globe. However, realizing that truth is a valuable tool and that grassroots work en masse can lead to quantifiable change has continued to motivate my dedication to confronting disinformation and hateful rhetoric. I have since guided peers through this sense of meaninglessness by promoting open conversation and camaraderie, which emphasizes the communal power to initiate social progress. The idiom "It takes a village," rings true to my ears, as group effort is necessary to both effectively communicate and challenge injustice.
