As a child my favorite toys were legos. Lego sets were hard to come by, as my family was not well off. So every holiday or birthday I would ask for a lego set, slowly building my collection piece by piece in order to make my own creations. Also challenging me to build with what I had. This spirit is the same one that drives me today when I make clothes, because I always hated following instructions. This ethos helped provide me the context for my current works, which I named CONSTRUCT · SHUN. Which tackles staying away from conventional ideologies and repurposing them into something new, and unique to you.

On 1/4/25, I was sewing a pair of jeans. As I was sewing them my hand slipped and I sewed a needle through my left ring finger. As I sat there in pain I thought to myself why not transform this mishap into art. Reinterpreting it as becoming married to my craft. This eventually marked the first volume of my movie poster series, which stems from going to the movies with my mother as a child.

We all come to a crossroads eventually. In this instance I chose to take the red pill to see how far the rabbit hole goes. Only with true belief makes this a pill we can all swallow.

Sitting on a train from Coney Island to Manhattan, I couldn’t help but feel a nostalgic sense of this train cart. Consisting of warm oranges and yellows, it inspired me to project my imagination onto this train. In result I was able to create this graphic work, that helped me creatively promote my release for my first ever products.

I was having a conversation with my friends, outside of the shop we work out of. As we were conversing what you see in this photo is what my mind saw as I stared at the building. Your environment has all the inspiration you need, you just need to be open to it.

I was riding my bike through downtown Hartford looking for inspiration, but did not find anything striking enough so I decided to go home. As I went home discouraged of what I thought was an empty trip, I came across this wall as it caught my attention. That very night I made this piece. This is a reminder of what you can see if you keep your eyes open even in defeat.

A true representation of the evolution of my life, from birth to the present. This is accomplished through color, as each one included represents my core memories, along with the lessons learned from them. With the goal to battle the idea of facades in war for peace.

EVERYTHING IS A CANVAS.

JO