In trying to understand the dualities in my own lived experiences, I started to notice and appreciate the same dualities in NYC’s appearance. A place where the soft can be found among the hard, where ornate pre-war buildings and graffiti sprawling across marble crown moldings. It’s a space of constant contrast, where just like in my memory, affection and discomfort exist side by side. I am drawn to the contrast between different elements, combining new and contemporary art making with traditional craft. Using woodworking as a vessel for my drawings, as skin would to a tattoo, or a building to graffiti. Placing rough iron elements next to soft canvas paintings, experimenting with old world patterns in geometric and modern forms.