Contemporary Imitations

Being Asian American in these times have been quite interesting, especially during the height of the pandemic. I have noticed much more hate crime, and discrimination, and the only way for me overcome all this negative energy is by creating art that changes lives. It should not matter how I look or dress for one to impose a predetermined outlook of me. Filipinos have been in America since the 1800’s and we still have not got the proper recognition I believe we deserve. Yes, their are many successful Filipino Americans, but how many Filipino American contemporary artists have you seen achieve the status of Worldwide recognition? I believe I can count that number on my fingers. I believe it also deals with lack of interest of art and culture amongst the Filipino community itself. In my opinion, when one is looked upon as an artist, the stigma is poor, uneducated, and no hope in life (walang pagasa). Being an artist in the Filipino Community is not a career like for instance a nurse or a doctor. I want to use my skills as an artist to help promote the Filipino communities, be an advocate to combat the current xenophobia against Asian Americans, and educate the youth using the work I create which they can analyze and also use to educate others. This has to be the direction I take for this grant scholarship to full fill my objectives in my personal life as well as in my professional work.