Bio
Nicki is an Asian Pacific Islander American artist and educator. She was born and raised in the Richmond District of San Francisco. She received her BA from Pitzer College (Education and Community Engagement) in 2021. Her work documents her continuous exploration of ascribed/prescribed identity, (re)appropriation, perception, and belonging through various artistic mediums— such as relief printmaking, painting, and sculpture.
My work documents my continuous exploration of ascribed/prescribed identity, (re)appropriation, perception, and belonging through a variety of artistic mediums— specifically, relief printmaking, painting, and sculpture. Art making is one of the tools that I use to make sense of the world and better understand the complex relationships between history, power, and personal/shared identity. I often incorporate so-called “traditional” Chinese, Filipino, and Native Hawaiian motifs and techniques, as well as popular Asian American iconography in my pieces as a way to reaffirm, honor, and put into question the experiences of Asian American, Oceanic and “third culture” individuals in diaspora. I also use my art practice as an opportunity to explore the realm of “crossover art.” I have always been fascinated by American popular media fan culture (especially within the horror genre) and the ways that fans add their own creative spin to their favorite shows, films, comics, etc. Recently, I have been experimenting with “crossing over” my favorite horror movies with popular children’s media. This investigation has encouraged me to reflect on the following questions: What is innocence? How do the historical and cultural contexts of different works of art shift when they are brought together in a single piece? In what ways can both the horror genre and children’s media serve as forms of emotional catharsis, escape, and/or healing?
Selected Work
