Artist Statement
My minimal, monochromatic watercolor paintings create a quiet space for reflection—an opportunity to contemplate the legacies we inherit and the ones we shape for ourselves and future generations.
Inspired by this passage from the Tao Te Ching, my work pays tribute to the quiet resilience of my parents, who grew up in San Francisco and were incarcerated during World War II with the signing of Executive Order 9066. Without ever speaking these words, they embodied them:
“They were careful as someone crossing an iced-over stream. Alert as a warrior in enemy territory. Courteous as a guest. Fluid as melting ice. Shapeable as a block of wood. Receptive as a valley. Clear as a glass of water. Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?”
There is a meditative rhythm to my process—each painting is built up slowly, one translucent layer at a time, with some paintings accumulating 40 or more layers over six months. Like the stories we inherit and pass down, each one unfolds gradually—layer by layer, word by word.