Living in the age of interconnectivity means we no longer exist within a culture: we now have the responsibility to define it. This search for identity is my attempt at reconciling the contradictory experiences of being an American Asian. My paintings appropriate iconic pop-culture imagery and combine it with eccentric personal anecdotes to create a world that allows me to embrace an identity that was never fully given to me. Using influences merged from competing cultures helps create an opportunity to search for my individuality. Will I search for solace in traditional practices like Buddhism, inherited from the motherland, or will I find it in the next Air Max drop?