artist statement As an artist, I create to share my world. I find that society constructs obstacles that hinder each person from understanding another person. Art transcends these obstacles and seeks to join people, to allow them to comprehend their reality. I make art to communicate my thoughts and feelings. I feel the need to share my perspective of the world to come to a greater meaning of my purpose here on earth. The medium that I use is integral to this goal. I chose to photograph, to capture reality and present it in a new and unique way. The process is analogous to personal growth and the ever changing landscape of my reality. And the techniques of photography, old and new, only add fuel to my creative energy. about me I have been into art ever since I was a child. I enjoyed drawing and painting, and being so excited when I received new art supplies -- crayons, markers, paints, brushes, pencils. I never thought I would grow up to be an artist, but a doctor, lawyer, or engineer, respectable professions in my family's eyes. But somehow my life's journey kept on leading me back to art, even when I purposely veered into other directions. I had an inkling that art would be a part of my life forever. In grammar school winning the third place ribbon in an art contest was what I was most proud of. An emphasis was always placed on academics and athletics and I learned to believe that success in these would lead to going to good schools, a solid and stable career, and starting my own family. Even though that ribbon was not blue, I discovered I was actually good at something. Similar things happened during the rest of my education. In high school I took all the art classes I could, which really did not amount to much then but meant a lot to me. I have always been a quiet person, and like many others, used art as a means to express my emotions. In college, I began developing my artistic style, at least I hope I did. I drew, painted, sculpted, even worked on a short video. It was awesome and I was having a great time. During my last quarter of college, I decided to take an introduction to photography course as an elective. Little did I know that this would become a passion. I earnestly practiced shooting with my first SLR camera, processed my own black and white film, and made my own prints. It amazed me that there were ways to use light to my advantage and to manipulate it. When I painted I relied on my emotions to guide my brushstrokes. This could be very time-consuming and photography gave me faster gratification. Light became my palette and my camera became my paintbrush. The frame was now my canvas. I enjoyed it a lot but I showed off new images only to a few. Criticism, even the good kind, I had a hard time receiving. When I was taking graduate courses, I had tried to challenge myself as much as possible, but I could not help but feel overwhelmed. I had classmates who were shooting for years and years, and who were schooled in a four-year undergraduate photography program. I only had a few months experience at that time. Nonetheless, I quickly learned about toning, shooting with medium format cameras, studio lighting, using color print and reversal film, presentation techniques, and alternative processes. I reluctantly took on digital photography and printing. I thought I would be an "old school" photographer and tried to avoid going digital as much as I could. But I turned to the "dark side," and even today it's hard to believe I felt that way. Now I mostly shoot digitally. experience Photo Editor AOL/Digital City, 2002-2003 Contributing Photographer Here is New York: A Democracy of Photographs, 2001-2002 Group Photography Show Basement Gallery, UC Davis Art Building, 1998