How would you describe your community and what sort of encounters with your work do you hope they might experience?

Having been an immigrant since birth, I constantly seek to understand the boundaries of community. Through my community-engaged work, I seize the opportunity to connect unlikely communities, and explore inclusive community building. 

My collaborations have spanned across a diverse spectrum of locals, ranging from toddlers and elders to punk musicians, social activists, mycologists, food enthusiasts, organic farmers, and college students. I mindfully call my collaborative endeavors as community-engaged art, rather than socially-engaged, a distinction that holds personal significance. When I think of ‘community,’ I am drawn to the vivid picture of people’s faces, inspiring within me a commitment to working closely with local communities.

For me, art-making is like creating an infinite loop—connecting and intertwining seemingly unrelated elements into a continuous, limitless experience. I hope that those who engage with my work experience moments of realization when they see unexpected connections unfold, witnessing the synergistic effects of this infinite loop. Moreover, I aim for my work to serve as a gateway—a portal into collective action and mutual discovery, decoding the universe.

What role does curiosity play in your work and what are you curious about exploring in the year to come?

Curiosity in my work often starts as a reaction to finding something humorous; for me, curiosity and humor are partners in crime. This drives me to delve deeper into research, explore new insights, and uncover intriguing facts. This initial spark of curiosity and laughter leads me to connect seemingly unrelated elements, creating an infinite loop in my work. Interestingly, as I develop my projects to spice them up, I often ponder, “How can I make this even funnier?” This quest explores the essence of how humor embodies this infinite loop within itself.

In recent years, I’ve found a lot of humor in the dynamic relationships between nature and humans. Take Masanobu Fukuoka’s “Do Nothing Farming,” for instance—it’s both hilarious and fascinating. This approach trusts in nature’s intelligence to produce more nutritious crops by allowing natural processes to flourish. While nature works its magic, humans can devote more time to their creative pursuits. The idea that doing less control can yield more highlights a whimsical yet profound synergy between human ingenuity and the wisdom of nature. 

Additionally, the idea of bioregionalism has caught my curiosity, examining how nature impacts the livelihood and relationships among local cultures and people. It offers fresh perspectives on examining our beings at large. This perspective, combined with the urgency of environmental crises, fuels my creativity to envision radical solutions to promote healing, and foster sustainable relationships between humans and the more-than-human world on both personal and planetary levels.

What about the nature of the fellowship stood out to you or resonated most with you and your work?

The nature of the S.O.U.R.C.E. fellowship that resonated most with me is its emphasis on working alongside and learning from diverse groups of people. This approach has always been vital to my creative process. Over the years, I’ve led community-engaged art projects addressing social justice, civic engagement, and community building through collaborations and partnerships. These initiatives increasingly serve as platforms for advocacy and outreach on critical issues such as over-development, food injustice, and immigrants’ rights.

I have been familiar with S.O.U.R.C.E. Studio long before its inception. Its gravitational pull brought us together not just as friends, but more so through our mutual respect as practitioners who believe in the transcendental power of art. Receiving this fellowship marks the beginning of a new chapter, unfolding our ongoing kinship and dialogue, activating a fresh force, and propelling my community-engaged art practice to the next level.