2015 - pen on paper.

2015 - pen on paper

2015 - pen on paper.

Mixed media on wood. 2014

Accepted submission piece for the Wreath Interpretations Exhibit at the Arsonal Gallery in Central Park, New York City. December 5, 2014 - January 7, 2015.

Even though we are in a festive season, we still should not forget about the dangers animals face. I chose the white tiger and snow leopard because they are both endangered of extinction, and their colors match my winter palette. Also, I chose the snow leopard as I felt it would add relevancy to the venue, the Central Park Zoo, which currently has a snow leopard on view.

The animals are positioned in a yin-yang-like manner, struggling for survival and fatally close to disappearing from existence, represented by their gradual transformation into snow and winter tree branches. 

I chose red as the background color because I wanted a compelling contrast with the predominant monochrome palette, as well as to the piece's name - White Christmas - through a degree of irony. The red is intended to bring the animals' suffering to mind amidst this holiday season.

11x17 in each, 22x17 total.

Assignment for my Studio class. The prompt was "what do you bring to the table?" and our teacher's only instruction was to be sure to include a table and a part of our appearance somewhere in our piece.

Basically put, this piece depicts a battle between two forces: The three warriors on the right are representative of my skills and potential, whereas the single large entity on the left is symbolic of the hardships and obstacles I have faced and will face in my personal or professional life.

The prompt phrase represents what my full potential and set of skills I have to offer are, so I decided that the fighting warriors on the right are would all be either wearing armor with table parts built into them, or wielding a weapon that resembles table components. I chose three warriors because of the symbolic connotations of the number. I made the two sides look like they were being summoned out of tables just in case my other table inclusions were not so obvious to find.

For obligatory inclusion of something that shows my appearance, I chose to put in some Japanese onomatopoeia with my good old profile picture in it. The character ド (do - like d'eau and not du) when repeated, builds a rumbling-ish sound, like a calm before the storm type of mood, which I deemed suitable for this piece showing an epic confrontation. Plus it adds a personal, cultural touch to the diptych, so that's always good.

One could argue the diptych looks a tad hectic due to all the details and zapping beams going on, but I intentionally wanted to convey a sense of chaos and bewilderment visually, so as to properly express how complicated all our inner thoughts are, in relation to living up to standards or going towards your dreams and aspirations.

A mix of markers, pen and ink, watercolor, iPad and Photoshop, I'm pretty happy with the piece.

22x17 in

Watercolor and ink on Bristol board.

Traditional Japanese dragons combined with contemporary colors and touches.

A digital collage made from photographs of found objects (e.g. my clothes, carpets, my anatomy books) and stock photos. 

Bringing back the infamous Tank Man photograph and adapting it to the recent Umbrella Revolution.

Pen > Sword - Triptych Assignment - Pen, Photoshop

A riff on the phrase "The Pen is Mightier than the Sword," a young man fights off an axe-wielding foe with a magical pen. 

An experiment with pieces/pages of differing orientations as well as layout. The left-to-right western reading direction and Japanese onomatopoeia represent my mixed upbringing. Red sport color used for emphasis and eye guidance.

Drawn and edited in Photoshop.

Horrorscopes - Pen, Photoshop.

A darker rendition of the twelve zodiac signs, presented as a zine. I sequenced them out of calendar order to represent the chaotic nature of these degenerate versions of the zodiac.

A cosmic entity and its worshippers made entirely with the Helvetica font. Photoshop.

Faced with artists' block, I tried to make sense out of randomly scrawled shapes by adding to them with a black and white pen.

Drawn with pens and edited in Photoshop.

Copic Markers, Pen, Pencils.

Paper doll concept - Draw a figure and the armor separately.

Copic markers and pencil.

Photoshop + Procreate for iPad

Copic Markers and Fineliners

A short comic about my childhood experiences, I chose to illustrate my story in a very compact form, conveying my struggles adapting to culture shock and prejudice coming to Brazil from Singapore at a young age. The  oppressive images are represented metaphorically by monstrous, nightmarish figures. The finished pages were created using Photoshop and Procreate for the iPad.

A whimsical chase placing a horror movie icon going after a classic Nickelodeon cartoon character.

You can find strange things in aquariums.

A creature that feeds on mannequins.