"This piece, "Stop Separating Families," was created out of my frustration with the ongoing human rights violations that immigrant families face at the border. I wanted to depict the pain and suffering that these families endure as they are torn apart by compassionless policies and to show the sense of despair that comes with being separated from loved ones while also highlighting the terrible reality of border surveillance that forces these families into more dangerous and desperate measures to seek a better life. The biometric facial recognition camera in the center was modeled after the cameras used at most ports of entry on the border in southern Texas and represents the constant, dehumanizing surveillance that these families are under, making them subject to racism and often labeled as “terrorists” rather than to be seen as people with dreams of a better life. I also wanted to use washed-out colors to represent the fading hope that these individuals experience, in contrast to the bold red text that serves as a cry for justice and humanity that demands to be seen and heard. The ankle monitor in the bottom left represents the surveillance and judgment that continues to haunt individuals even after they’ve crossed. These monitors often harm the mental and physical well-being of the wearer as they are constantly watched while they seek asylum. Additionally, I wanted to depict the dangerous alternative routes (top left) that many families are forced to take to avoid ports of entry, oftentimes having to wade through the Rio Grande. Overall, through these depictions, I wanted to emphasize the desperation that drives people to extremes and the cruelty embedded in policies that leave them with no other choice.

I would imagine this piece as a poster to be hanging in spaces where it can be seen broadly: in community centers, schools, or public transportation hubs. These are places where people who are never really exposed to the impact of immigration policies can come to face the reality faced by these families. The significance of my audience is their power to push for change and to become allies in the fight against these inhumane practices, to provide hope for separated families. Additionally, I want this artwork to be seen by policymakers who have the power to change these destructive policies. By placing it in locations where they might pass through, such as government buildings or at political events, it could serve as a constant reminder of the human cost of their decisions. My hope is that by experiencing the emotions I tried to depict in this piece, people will be moved to advocate for a system that no longer destroys families but instead upholds their right to stay together."

"The motive behind to create this artwork was to create a sculpture and to spread awareness towards the one of  monkey species and that are gorillas, i mostly work on installation art, i use every waste material, it doesn't matter for me, what material will that be, it could be anything, like nut, bolts, pen caps, calacitors, inductors, etc. Such things i take them in use to accomplish installation art. The color which is shown in my artwork that's natural of its parts, i didn't apply any additional paint.

I would like to imagine this piece to be the sign of freedom for gorillas, and also it would be seen by some experienced matal artist."

"My artivism piece “AAPI Voices are Valuable” depicts a collection of individuals with Asian features in front of four different graphic icons: the Supreme Court in the left back corner, a world map of the continents emphasizing North America and Asia in the right back, a surgical mask in the bottom-left corner, and a bowl mirroring the mask in the bottom-right corner. The top and bottom lines in Abstract bubble-lettered font read “AAPI VOICES” and “ARE VALUABLE”, respectively. In the background's top half is a faded, waving American flag. 

My goal was to convey to the target audience of Asian Americans that they have the ability to voice their thoughts on a variety of issues significantly impacting the AAPI community in order to raise awareness of the struggles members of our race endure here in America which are often swept under the rug. Instead of focusing my piece on a specific issue, I included four that I was passionate about and thought were significant. The Supreme Court symbolizes the June 2023 ruling that declared Affirmative Action, or inclusion of race in college admissions, unconstitutional. This ruling affects Asian American students since the opinions of this ruling are often very polarized and the interpretation of this intention ultimately caught the attention of Asian Americans voicing their opinions. I represented current/past immigration laws with North America and Asia in blue and red respectively on the world map, since a majority of Asian Americans are immigrants or children of immigrant parents so the future of immigration policies will greatly affect the Asian American population and those who may add to it. The mask representing the surge in anti-Asian hate/violence after the COVID-19 pandemic and the broken, empty bowl representing the poverty 10% of Asian Americans live in, which are both large issues but I placed them on the same line directly across each other since the COVID one got a lot of attention when the pandemic affected everyone, but the issue of poverty is lesser known or urgent so by mirroring the two symbols I hope to represent the high level of significant both issues hold. Though a bit uncanny, the absence of eyes in the people in the middle are made in hopes of having the audience match their own identities into potentially one of the people depicted, since my goal of increasing Asian American representation and civic engagement is best conveyed by convincing the audience that they should and need to act on these issues themselves. Despite being faded and potentially the least noticeable portion, the waving American flag in the back made from a paint-textured brush represents the fluidity and perpetual change of the nation, since America is not a stagnant nation and by conveying that message, people are likely to believe they can make a difference.

I created this piece with the hopes of any other art activist- to spread awareness on their issue to as many as possible, and to convince the audience to engage in the topic of activism or change. By making this through a digital medium, I tried to shy away from the traditional forms of art activism through painting to adapt to the current trends, such as social media and apparel. I could definitely see my graphic on merchandise such as shirts, totes, stickers, posters, etc. with the bold graphics in pen and large, trendy bubble lettered font. I could also see this piece easily being posted/reposted or shared through social media, since it's cartoon-like and the bright colors are eye catching. I would hope to get the word of these issues out to as many as possible, but mostly towards Asian Americans since the issues depicted are significant to Asian Americans. By seeing these issues affecting their race in this country, and by seeing themselves through this piece I hope to encourage my audience to participate in and create social change."