MICA Competitive Scholarship Portfolio 2018
Before I Sleep (selected pages)
2017
In this piece I adapted the Robert Frost poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening and placed it in China during the Qing dynasty. The words act less as a narrative structure and more as a string of thoughts for our the main character as she hunts a deer through the forest.
August 30th
Digital
2017
This piece is a visual translation of one of the short pieces of writing I make each day. I write without censorship, and the work is sometimes completely nonsensical, but it acts as a small snapshot of my brain in that moment.
In The Event of a Transformation
2017
This book tells the story of a woman's transformation into a werewolf in the form of a support guide for loved ones. The experience of witnessing a supernatural transformation can be compared to that of supporting a loved one through terminal illness, as both are slow and painful processes, and neither the caregiver nor the afflicted person comes out unchanged. A transformation affects everyone, and this book acts as an exploration of that grief.
One Night in a Love Hotel
Digital
2017
In this piece I wanted to explore the idea of sex as solace, a refuge from emotional pain. Love hotels in Japan capitalize on this concept through rooms decorated like space stations, classrooms, and castles, bringing our mental desire to escape to a physical space.
Bluebeard
5ft x 3ft, ink on paper
2017
I based this piece on the story of Bluebeard, a French nobleman who killed his wives and kept their bodies in a secret room in the basement of his house. I designed the house to exhibit the "layers" of someone's personality, and how as people come to know eachother they discover things that could be disturbing.
Claire and Zoe
Ink, digital color
2017
Claire is a wealthy young girl raised in the Moors of England, with no friends except the animals her parents experiment on. One of them, a human-fish hybrid named Zoe, becomes her confidant and guinea pig as she grows up and follows her family's legacy. These are character sketches of the two of them- how they look but also their relationship to one another.
Yi's Ghost
2017
This photo series tells the story of a friendly ghost who becomes separated from his owner after falling out of her backpack, and his quest to find her again. The linear narrative and sweet, childlike atmosphere differ from the rest of my work and make this piece easily the most challenging project presented in this collection.
Las Castas
16" x 24", acrylic and ink on wood
2017
This piece explores the Spanish colonial system used to categorize people by race, and how La Virgen De Guadalupe emerged from it as a symbol of indigenous pride. Whereas other dark-skinned saints typically become whitewashed over time, La Virgen remained her natural skin tone, defying European standards of who, and what, can be considered holy.
Girls
22" x 30" , ink, colored pencil on watercolor paper
2018
In middle school I developed a fear of being hurt by other girls, and became paranoid about any interaction. The girl's bathroom was the one place where I couldn't escape and came face to face with the anxiety. In this piece I depicted a younger me in one of those moments.
