You’ve mentioned that your artwork is narrative-driven. What are the themes or emotions you find yourself exploring most through your art?
Themes of spirituality, devotion, protection and connection are always on my mind. Putting visuals to this sometimes looks more lighthearted than what’s behind the curtain.
Making art is one thing – making money from it is another. What do you think the art industry is missing that could help artists better support themselves? Do you have any advice for creatives trying to make ends meet?
It’s not an art industry thing, it’s a societal thing. We have no social safety net. I don’t think making art is reserved for a special few, I think everyone in their own right is some kind of artist. Being an artist just means you get to act out your value system. For example, “gardening and connecting to the earth is important to me, so I am going to dedicate this much of my week/year/day/life to it.” This person is an artist. I have no good advice for making ends meet, except that artists are the most dangerous class because they can move through the classes. I don’t come from parents who taught me to do anything I liked because they never got to do anything they liked. I am blessed that being an artist was a total mystery. I had no grand ideas of what this would mean. I just made it work as best I could. I have worked at a bakery, I taught art lessons, I painted fancy handbags, I illustrated newspaper articles, I catered – all so I could live my life as best as I could. To this day, I am on Medi-Cal because we don’t offer anything for freelancers that is reasonable in terms of healthcare. This also shouldn’t even be a political issue, it’s about humanity. We need artists, teachers and scientists more than we need bankers and politicians.
You draw, paint, sew, make music and design prints. How did you go about learning so many different mediums?
Survival! Well, except for drawing, painting and printmaking (I guess, in that respect, I did go to art school). But sewing I learned on the job, and music, well, I am still figuring that out. For music, I have to come from a performance-art angle, so it’s less about virtuosity. When you grow up in a household where English is a second language and you're a latch-key kiddo, you learn to reverse-engineer most things. It’s a skill I have applied to the arts.
