The Selves
2022
Feature one
The Selves
I understand myself to be divided into these three personas that I question on a daily basis. How society sees me, how I see myself, and what actually defines my place in the world; and in each of these
personas is the unearthed longing of feeling comfortable in your own skin and feeling like you belong. It’s difficult to decipher. I’ve found that I only have a mere idea of each for all. The way society sees me always varies within context- in Costa Rica I’m too Asian, in the Philippines I’m too white and in the US I'm too ethnically ambiguous. I never fit in anywhere because I’m a multicultural melting pot, and my place in society along with the way that I’m perceived, has a variety of contingent factors that have differed in every context I’ve been in.
2023
Feature two
Transcendence
An extension of The Selves, transcendence seeks to explore my interest in death and liberation of the soul as a sacred transition into another form of being beyond physicality and tangible reality. What is a soul and how do I know I have one? Why is there so much discomfort in the way we discuss, perceive and approach death? How does culture influence my relationship and understanding of death?
2023
Feature three
Three Orchid Problem
What role does the physical form play in being human?
What does being a woman mean to me?
An exploration of the self in collaboration with generative AI as a means to imagine a disembodied form of being. Orchids, a significant motif throughout my life, serve as a botanical embodiment of the complexity and beauty behind femininity, resilience, fragility and intersectional identity. There is the way one sees themselves, the way one is seen and the way one actually is. I draw from my ornate relationship with femininity and what it means to be a woman, playing with elements such as the fragility and resilience of orchids and glass while simultaneously embracing the beauty and intricacy that comes with womanhood and alluding to the inevitable challenge that comes with accepting the multi-faceted nature of who you are. Hence, the Three Orchid Problem.
Present
Feature four
Siya
From the complex nature of the self to disembodied forms of being, these are the early beginnings of a narrative about a robot that seemingly awakens in the remnants of the modern world only to see itself, perhaps its soul, watching its physical form deteriorate.
In a mixed media short-film I'm currently working on, we follow Siya through a series of fragmented memories unbound by linear time and space. 'Hallucinations' illustrating their lived experience that suggests Siya was once human. I'm experimenting with different creative processes, working back and forth between: after effects, pika, stable diffusion, runway, midjourney, blender and real footage.
I'm interested in the way we anthropomorphize everything around us, including our creations. It parallels with the practice of animism, which in pre-colonial times, cultivated universal interconnectivity, empathy and altruism. To me, the obsession with anthropomorphism feels like a deeply rooted longing for the profound connection we once had with nature and one another. I've also been thinking about AI, the controversy surrounding artificial general intelligence and what defines consciousness. What would separate AGI from humanity? How do we determine what's real vs what's artifice?
Siya (sh-a) in Tagalog is a genderless pronoun rooted in pre-colonial linguistic inclusivity. It echoes former belief systems that place our shared humanity before anything else.
Present
Feature four
Siya: Immersive Project Concept
As an extension of Siya's journey through memory and lived experience, I've been speculating an immersive experience that visualizes the cycles of birth, life and death in virtual architectural spaces that don't possess the same limitations as physical spaces. I often think about how varying physical spaces and environments make me feel and why. Recently, I've started making frequent changes to my personal space and the way I interact with it in an effort to create the environment I need in response to my emotions. I found that maintaining a dialogue between myself and my space has been invaluable and want to continue to explore this idea of creating 'empathetic environments' that respond to the individual or the collective. Could I work at the intersection between AI and XR technologies to create a dynamic, ever-changing space that recreates itself and the immersive experience you have based on the way you interact with it?
I think 'empathetic environments' in virtual spaces could revolutionize our relationship with the spaces we inhabit. By harnessing the power of AI and XR technologies, these environments could adapt in real-time, not just to our current emotional state but also to our evolving needs and experiences. Imagine a space that morphs to soothe you when you're stressed, energizes you when you're lethargic, or inspires you when you seek creativity. This interplay between user and environment, where each influences and responds to the other, blurs the line between the observer and the observed. It's more than just a space; it's a living, breathing entity that intimately understands you. Such a dynamic, responsive environment could offer profound insights into the human psyche, potentially transforming therapy, meditation, and personal growth. This exploration at the intersection of AI, XR, and human emotion holds the potential of creating not just spaces, but experiences that are deeply personal, immensely transformative, and truly alive.