Exhibition
The Exhibition is one of the three exam components for the IB Art Visual course. It is the culmination of the students’ IB Art experience, showcasing a selection of their best works in the form of a curated show. Students also articulate and defend their artistic intentions and goals for the show in a written curatorial rationale. Each selected artwork is supported by a concise explanation of the artistic intention for the artwork.
This page showcases my works created in my junior and senior years.
My exhibition, Truth Unmasked, critiques the mechanisms of modern society that conceal uncomfortable realities behind consumer comfort, aesthetic appeal, or technological convenience. In my approach to art-making, I emphasize conceptual depth to address globalization, consumerism, digital dependency, environmental commodification, and medical inequality, using familiar objects recontextualized in unexpected ways to challenge viewers’ perceptions of value, identity, and truth. The evolution of my work demonstrates a consistent trajectory of questioning the systems that shape our world, beginning with economic exploitation and ending with emotional disconnection in the digital age.
The earliest pieces, Global Debt Scapes, 38lbs of Credit, and The Washington Trim, create a foundational commentary on the hidden costs of globalization. In these works, I employ real-world data, national symbols, and financial iconography to highlight how disadvantaged nations are economically exploited. Global Debt Scapes presents a series of credit-card-sized artworks containing key national statistics, emphasizing how countries are often reduced to data points within global financial systems. These cards are physically incorporated into The Washington Trim, a leather wallet that critiques consumerism by overemphasizing compartmentalization and using luxury materials to mask overconsumption. The cinder block in 38lbs of Credit further literalizes this metaphor—its weight symbolizing the burden of economic injustice, with each credit card attached to it standing in for a nation’s unseen support of global wealth.
Progressing from macroeconomic critique, Catalogue shifts the audience’s lens to individual consumer identity in the digital age. Exhibited in the style of Andy Warhol’s grid with repetitive images and visually influenced by Barbara Kruger’s black and white images juxtaposed with text, this work critiques dependency on the iPhone as a new identity marker.
A Hard Pill to Swallow and We’re all in This Together continue my theme through medical metaphors. The former utilizes a familiar pill bottle and drug label, commenting on the complexities of socialized medicine. The latter drawing of lungs juxtaposed with a rising stock chart conveys the monetization of basic human needs like clean air and water. Both pieces bridge the gap between viewer and artwork by reusing everyday visual symbols to make systemic critiques more accessible and emotionally resonant.
Henry’s Wardrobe, a pair of white T-shirts with applied luxury branding, comments on how well-known company logos create artificial value. By using formal accessories like ties and logos from Prada and Burberry, I mimic the stylistic signifiers of wealth while deliberately undercutting their value by using an inexpensive, common appeal T-shirt. Therefore, I created intentional defects to expose the illusion of luxury as rooted not in material quality but in the manipulation of perception.
For Dying Alone, I was inspired by Edward Hopper’s melancholic settings; I repurposed symbols of community (chairs, a table) with devices of disconnection. The remaining artworks in my exhibition are arranged to arch above Dying Alone, a large installation piece staged outside the entrance to “The Hub,” a communal space at our school used for hosting gatherings and shared meals. While The Hub represents interaction, conversation, and community, I exhibit Dying Alone in stark contrast, symbolizing the viewer’s isolation as a consequence of complacency. The symmetrical arrangement and the invitation to sit at the head of the table turn the viewer into both subject and observer.
I arranged my works linearly on the long wall in the stairwell space to guide viewers from external systems to internal consequences—from The Washington Trim to Henry’s Wardrobe. Pieces are spaced so the viewer can examine each work carefully, provoking visual and conceptual engagement with masked issues. As my works arch above Dying Alone, the viewer is invited to take a seat at the head of a table and reflect on unmasking the addressed issues. The familiar objects used to create artworks entice the audience, but upon close examination, the audience might feel a growing discomfort in rethinking what our society masks and normalizes.
Whether through nuanced commentary or stark confrontation, each piece calls the audience to reexamine our society’s ideologies and personal beliefs.
Catalogue
Digital photography
Each print is 11” x 17”
“Catalogue” critiques contemporary materialism and the intertwining of technology and identity. I exhibited a collection of posters in the grid format inspired by Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans to evoke visual saturation. Visually inspired by Barbara Kruger's I Shop Therefore I Am, my piece reimagines her theme of consumption by highlighting the iPhone’s role in shaping consumerist tendencies.
A Hard Pill to Swallow
Plastic medicine pill bottle
12.5” x 17.0” x 6”
“A Hard Pill to Swallow” is a comment on the foundational piece of a socialized government: socialized medicine. I repurposed universally recognizable typography like a prescription drug label and receipt to point out the complexities of this healthcare system. This project does not seek to cover every nuanced detail about socialized medicine, of which there are many, but it highlights the importance of discussing sensitive topics for societal understanding, healing, and progress.
We’re all in this together
Pencil on paper
8” x 16”
This work critiques the hidden commodification of essential human needs, exposing the reality that even the air we breathe is subject to economic forces. A pair of shriveling lungs, drawn in cross-contour style, stand in contrast to the rising stock chart behind them. I created this juxtaposition to unmask a hidden truth—corporate profits often come at the expense of environmental degradation and human survival. This work invites viewers to question the price of life itself.
The Washington Trim
Leather scraps, Waxed thread, Glue
8” x 3”
“The Washington Trim” is a conceptual-style artwork that transforms a leather wallet into a symbol of the American Dream, stitched with a critique of capitalist excess. With the wallet’s design resembling the American flag, this piece embodies the consumption identity. Each pocket, a commentary on the insatiable nature of consumer culture, reveals a narrative of pursuit and emptiness, urging viewers to contemplate the true cost of their material desires.
Dying Alone
Table, Chairs, Laptops, Spray Paint, Plate, Utensils
8’ x 2.5’ x 3.5’
“Dying Alone” explores the theme of isolation in the digital age, using an interactive arrangement of laptops and a dining table to critique the erosion of human connection. By replacing family members with black-painted laptops at a traditional communal table, the work juxtaposes togetherness and solitude. Dying Alone was inspired by my own observations of the transformation from personal to digital interaction in Tokyo, Japan.
Global Debt Scapes
Digital Collage in Canva
Each card is 2” x 3.5”
“Global Debt Scapes” utilizes familiar credit card designs with stark economic realities to critique globalization's inequities, unmasking the truth. Selected countries’ flags and data unveil the obscured narratives of exploited nations, inviting reflective scrutiny of globalization's true cost.
38 lbs of Credit
Printed cards on concrete block
8” x 8” x 16”
“38lbs of Credit” symbolizes the economic exploitation of disadvantaged nations in the global system. Each credit card symbolizes an exploited nation. Just like the foundations of buildings are constructed with heavy cinder blocks, the foundation of our global economy is constructed on exploitation through globalization.
Henry’s Wardrobe
Cotton T-shirt, Nylon, Silk, Leather, Stainless Steel
Each shirt is about 18” x 28”
With “Henry’s Wardrobe,” I unmask the illusion of luxury by overbranding plain T-shirts with excessive designer logos, highlighting how branding, not quality, drives perceived value. Featuring iconic motifs like Burberry plaid, Prada’s triangle logo, and Stone Island patches, my work critiques the fashion industry’s reliance on status symbols, artificial scarcity, and deceptive marketing. By exaggerating branding, the piece forces viewers to question what truly defines luxury.
For inquiries, collaborations, or to discuss art projects, feel free to reach out.