Connect What is your favorite type of art to create?

I’m drawn to creating expressive portraits that carry emotional weight. Coming from my own experiences and struggles, I naturally focus on the subtle tensions and unspoken stories held in the human face. Pain, resilience, and vulnerability often become visible through the eyes, the mouth, or even the smallest shift in expression. When I paint, I’m less interested in perfection and more in capturing that raw, honest moment where emotion surfaces and time seems to dissolve.

Where do you find inspiration?

I find inspiration in my ancestors and the emotional memory I carry from them. Their resilience, silence, and the histories they lived through often shape the way I see the world. I also draw from the feeling of displacement and not fully belonging anywhere, which has been part of my cultural story.These experiences make me sensitive to themes like identity, loss, and survival. In my work, I try to translate those inherited emotions into faces and expressions.

What would you do with $25,000?

If I had $25,000, I would invest it in building a small, collaborative art space—a collective that could support both my practice and the work of other artists. My goal would be to create an environment that feels like a temporary home for artists who are displaced or without a stable place to work, offering them space, time, and community. I would want this space to become a source of mutual inspiration, where different backgrounds and experiences come together through art.