What is your favorite type of art to create?

My favorite work I create has no direct reference / subject matter, but is drawn from a vision, fascination or feeling within. My art is like light- and I try to capture it, dig it out from a dark place with an archaic eye. The work itself is attempting to mirror that light or the struggle itself, often through female characters and personal perspectives. If the work feels like world building into an ethereal place, I feel like I did something right.

Where do you find inspiration?

I tend to tackle themes of ancestry, evolution, spirituality, culture, philosophy, and connection— drawing inspiration from personal and familial experiences, theories and supernatural fascinations. Being mixed race- of both North African and Pacific Islander descent, I feel a deep desire to honor an ancient pull. Something both divine and utterly human, equally connected to skies and stars as blood and bone. Art is my ritual of expressing and tending to that feeling in this white washed west.

What would you do with $25,000?

If I were to win, I would absolutely invest in my future and into my communities in Los Angeles and globally. Big tips to service workers and a chance to continue studying my fields of interest debt free. Mashallah.