ImagiNation

1.5M ratings
277k ratings

See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna
Liminal Asian-American. Not Asian. Not American. Asian-American. We exist in this hyphen, this liminal space where we cannot fit fully into either identity, where we float between being both but also neither. My parents are Vietnamese boat refugees,...

Liminal

Asian-American. Not Asian. Not American. Asian-American.
We exist in this hyphen, this liminal space where we cannot fit fully into either identity, where we float between being both but also neither. My parents are Vietnamese boat refugees, and I was born in Southern Califonia. I wanted this piece to represent how it felt to grow up in both cultures. The figure stretches between lotus flowers and golden poppies, reaching to both but unable to touch either. We possess a sense of agency but simultaneously lack full control over our identities. That liminal space is what being Asian-American is. Not Asian. Not American. Both and none, synchronously.

painting asian american painterly metaphor symbol symbolism liminal lotus poppyflower poppies californiapoppies california poppies california poppy lotus flower vietnam america california united states asian american ao dai girl pink orange blue underwater floating float lights confusion
The Psychiatrist and the Patient “Seems weird but I can have two voices in my head, a personal dialogue, with one hysterical patient and one rational psychiatrist. But sometimes the psychiatrist doesn’t want to work. Or the hysterical patient doesn’t...

The Psychiatrist and the Patient

“Seems weird but I can have two voices in my head, a personal dialogue, with one hysterical patient and one rational psychiatrist. But sometimes the psychiatrist doesn’t want to work. Or the hysterical patient doesn’t want to listen. Or both. So I’m left with the psychiatrist knowing there’s something wrong and how to fix it, but the patient unwilling to take a step forward. Or even the psychiatrist just wanting to back off, to let the streams run their course.”

The patient and the psychiatrist exist simultaneously as a yin and a yang. The waves lap endlessly at the patient’s feet while the psychiatrist chills with her feet up. Water calms me - the pitter patter of rain, the warmth of late night showers, the (inadvisable) taste of snow - while nature grounds me - the rustling of tree leaves, the chilled winter air, the flying dandelion seeds. These senses help to wash over the feelings of failure, doubt, distrust, emotional aching. Emotions and thoughts do not exist alone - many conflict but also interplay. Combining the cools with the warms, the ground with the sea, the patient with the psychiatrist hopefully conveys the sense of the duality that accompanies depression.

digital drawing digital painting digital illustration ipadpro ipad art autodesk sketchbook painting
Top Photos