Rooted in my coastal upbringing and guided by a curiosity to explore new ideas, this body of work engages with multimedia practices to challenge the limits of the traditional canvas. My deep connection to the ocean is woven throughout the work, emerging as both subject and inspiration.
I work with mixed media, often combining recycled and found materials with delicate linework to beautify an object once rendered useless. This layering of forms and mediums symbolizes the coastal environments that shaped me and how pollution is destroying the organic world. My artistic influences stem from the ocean and its organisms, and the historical and spiritual meanings tied to nature. Every culture has different meanings tied to things in nature along with having personal meanings. Like how Hawaii sees Manta Rays as protectors and messengers. These sources inspire me to weave motifs of black and white to observe content over color and embellishments to help create contrast. Together, they create compositions that ask the viewer to pause, connect, and find resonance within the work. An example of this process is seen in Wollongong, where reclaimed materials and charcoal mirror the movement of the tide, embodying both my fascination with nature and my commitment to shedding light on the state of the environment.
My practice is about finding moments of reflection, stillness, and connection to the ocean. In this collection, I want to bring environmental awareness that may be personal connections or through an ecological lens and related to the health of our planet. Each drawing is both an exploration and grounding in my coastal American roots. Aiming to challenge conventional forms by engineering the works one step further. By adding another medium and pvc pipes, add another layer of symbolism. Fragility and reminders of how human activity has altered the natural ecosystem.
Assimilation
In my art practice, I piece together my evolving sense of cultural identity as an Asian American raised in coastal North Carolina. By weaving my personal experiences, emotions, and memories into printed media, I examine the complexities of belonging and self-discovery. While growing up in this area, I have experienced multiple instances of disparate impact. For example, when I was in high school, I worked in a grocery store and was told by a customer that they didn’t blame me for the virus and proceeded to go on about the topic to me. While this person had good intent, it made me feel pushed further away from the majority. Or another instance, when I was working in a restaurant and was holding the door open for a family. Their little girl pulled her eyes into slits and asked her mom why I looked like this. For this specific encounter, education and exposure is important. Through intentional choices of color, recurring motifs, and carefully selected materials, I infuse each piece with layered symbolism that speaks to both my heritage and my lived reality.
Experimentation with mixed media is central to my practice. My work becomes a space where I use materials, images, and symbols to explore my Identity. Photography, screen printing, lino-cut, printing, Riso are vehicles I have used to communicate my ideas. By using a combination of printing methods, it is representative of how the invention of printing made information spread further. Questions about my origins have driven me to seek a deeper understanding of my cultural background. Studying Chinese history and symbolism has provided new insight into traditional artistic forms, inspiring me to reinterpret and share these elements within my own work.
In my screen print “One,” I utilize the colors blue, black, red and white paired with Chinese characters to illustrate the impact of China's one-child policy. This policy was in effect from 1979 to 2016. The historical significance of color in Chinese culture lends these prints added meaning of color in Chinese culture make these prints more meaningful. Here are the meanings of the colors I utilized: Black = Hardship, Red = Luck, White = Mourning, and Blue = The color of the East. I was found in the Liaoning province, which is in northeastern China. I used the Chinese characters for son, daughter, and the number one. The traditional flag shape and being screen-printed suggest the ability to be mass-produced and recognizable.
In my practice, I’m always searching for ways to communicate my evolving sense of cultural identity, and I’ll always struggle with developing work that can fully describe my personal experience.
I work with mixed media, often combining recycled and found materials with delicate linework to beautify an object once rendered useless. This layering of forms and mediums symbolizes the coastal environments that shaped me and how pollution is destroying the organic world. My artistic influences stem from the ocean and its organisms, and the historical and spiritual meanings tied to nature. Every culture has different meanings tied to things in nature along with having personal meanings. Like how Hawaii sees Manta Rays as protectors and messengers. These sources inspire me to weave motifs of black and white to observe content over color and embellishments to help create contrast. Together, they create compositions that ask the viewer to pause, connect, and find resonance within the work. An example of this process is seen in Wollongong, where reclaimed materials and charcoal mirror the movement of the tide, embodying both my fascination with nature and my commitment to shedding light on the state of the environment.
My practice is about finding moments of reflection, stillness, and connection to the ocean. In this collection, I want to bring environmental awareness that may be personal connections or through an ecological lens and related to the health of our planet. Each drawing is both an exploration and grounding in my coastal American roots. Aiming to challenge conventional forms by engineering the works one step further. By adding another medium and pvc pipes, add another layer of symbolism. Fragility and reminders of how human activity has altered the natural ecosystem.
Assimilation
In my art practice, I piece together my evolving sense of cultural identity as an Asian American raised in coastal North Carolina. By weaving my personal experiences, emotions, and memories into printed media, I examine the complexities of belonging and self-discovery. While growing up in this area, I have experienced multiple instances of disparate impact. For example, when I was in high school, I worked in a grocery store and was told by a customer that they didn’t blame me for the virus and proceeded to go on about the topic to me. While this person had good intent, it made me feel pushed further away from the majority. Or another instance, when I was working in a restaurant and was holding the door open for a family. Their little girl pulled her eyes into slits and asked her mom why I looked like this. For this specific encounter, education and exposure is important. Through intentional choices of color, recurring motifs, and carefully selected materials, I infuse each piece with layered symbolism that speaks to both my heritage and my lived reality.
Experimentation with mixed media is central to my practice. My work becomes a space where I use materials, images, and symbols to explore my Identity. Photography, screen printing, lino-cut, printing, Riso are vehicles I have used to communicate my ideas. By using a combination of printing methods, it is representative of how the invention of printing made information spread further. Questions about my origins have driven me to seek a deeper understanding of my cultural background. Studying Chinese history and symbolism has provided new insight into traditional artistic forms, inspiring me to reinterpret and share these elements within my own work.
In my screen print “One,” I utilize the colors blue, black, red and white paired with Chinese characters to illustrate the impact of China's one-child policy. This policy was in effect from 1979 to 2016. The historical significance of color in Chinese culture lends these prints added meaning of color in Chinese culture make these prints more meaningful. Here are the meanings of the colors I utilized: Black = Hardship, Red = Luck, White = Mourning, and Blue = The color of the East. I was found in the Liaoning province, which is in northeastern China. I used the Chinese characters for son, daughter, and the number one. The traditional flag shape and being screen-printed suggest the ability to be mass-produced and recognizable.
In my practice, I’m always searching for ways to communicate my evolving sense of cultural identity, and I’ll always struggle with developing work that can fully describe my personal experience.
Photos by James Farley