Laguna College of Art + Design

In the Light is a painted observation of our disconnection with the natural environment and how my own reconnection with nature has helped me sort out life’s most difficult questions and challenges. In developing a visual language to express t…

After the sudden loss of my father in 2021, I was driven to paint flowers in his memory, unable to bring flowers to his physical resting spot. I paint daisies in honor of the memories of our family dog Daisy, sunflowers as a symbol of the help and s…

My large-scale drawings investigate the beauty of femininity and inner strength through intricate designs that incorporate elements from nature. I depict female figures immersed in biophilic relationships, highlighting a harmonious bond between wome…

This work was included in the Society of Illustrators West 63rd Exhibition.

I look for transient moments where light takes shape, creates lines, or illuminates color as it reflects off a surface. When I paint people under these conditions, I find that abstract qualities of visual perception are a compelling vehicle for empa…

Inquiry breeds creation. As a painter, I tend to ask too many questions for my own good –this is how I develop concepts for my paintings. I question what the norm might be, and I question the rules of picture-making while also questioning my o…

I create compositions that feature the solitary, contemplative male figure, both at rest and in action. I use athletics to explore the male body in an endearing way that edges up to a subtle homoeroticism. Learning Olympic-style diving has inspired …

At 8 years old, I was severely injured in a very serious car accident which resulted in a coma for a week. This was an event that changed a lot of people's lives within my family. The scene was so horrific, it was only told with metaphors to lighten…

My paintings are a roadmap to the different ways I have found healing within my life. Finding connections to external stimuli, such as the sun, gave me the strength to go inwards. While examining my own inner workings, I became ready to extend mysel…

For me, the act of painting is an act of being in the moment. I use it as a tool to stay in touch with the world around me and with my personal history. My thesis project, A Series of Literal Paintings, is a collection of observations that I have co…

As an oil painter who came to art later in her life, I have a clear intention for the subjects that I paint and express the wisdom I have gathered in my life. My artworks thus reflect who I am, where I am from, and where I have traveled. Having been…

To an artist, the meaning of “still life” in the English language and “nature morte” in the French language refers to the same type of subject matter. There is a subtle difference though; the definition of still life refers t…

As a painter who hunts, my art concerns the dialectics of hunting. How can I say, “I love deer” while I am in pursuit to shoot one? Why is it that I am both remorseful and happy when I stand over an elk whose life I cut short? Where is t…

My paintings move through the shadow of my past life. I was born and grew up in post-revolutionary Iran, in a culture dominated by patriarchal governments and households. As a young woman in Iran, I saw wars, protest, and revolution. My early experi…

Mass media is the source of inspiration for my body of work, which I have titled Seen and Forgotten. Contemporary societies that have access to modern media formats are bombarded with photographic images. Newspapers, magazines, video, film and the I…

In the basin of a hidden valley, a skewed rock pile breaks the silhouette of distant blue mountains. The already-fallen sun leaves a green sky in its wake. Without the heat of day to hold it back, a brisk chill quickly rises from the sandy ground. T…

A Bridge between Worlds is a series of narrative paintings that explore symbolism and allegory. They are executed in a traditional, representational style, synthesizing the classical, naturalist, symbolist, and contemporary genres of painting. The a…

Jonathon Shay, in Achilles in Vietnam, wrote that he is “deeply opposed to war, but just as deeply respectful of the soldier” (Shay1994, 206). This sentiment reflects my exact feelings and motivations for the seven paintings in my thesis…

The people that I have painted in my MFA thesis series have suffered indignities, hardship, and sometimes the loss of their individual freedoms. Due to a variety of circumstances, they found themselves in situations that were dire. Often, their live…