I have always been interested in visual arts. Ever since I was young, I began taking traditional art classes, focusing in on my techniques in painting and graphite. Slowly, with my switch to different art teachers and just by growing up and going to middle and high school, I became exposed to more and more art forms. I worked with composition and charcoal. Then onto printmaking with cardboard. During my final years of high school, I experimented with sculptures and installations. I even made a small business selling screen printed shirt and started my summer job as a caricature artist.
But when people asked me what type of art I liked, I still wasn’t sure how to answer. I think I enjoy modern and contemporary art; at least I preferred it to spending hours in a museum with solely oil paints and still life. I enjoyed experiencing the various art in the Bay Area, from the sculptures I pass on my daily drives, viewing my friends’ artworks in the studio, and going to museums in San Francisco, like the De Young, Legion of Honor, and Modern Museum of Art. Although these are places and artworks were familiar to me, in reality, I knew little about the work itself.
That is why, my topic is the street art near my home. I am from San Jose, California, but I chose the street art of Palo Alto and San Francisco to explore. I want to know my home even better by knowing about the art in it. These two cities are ones I visit very often, and I hope that the next time I go home, I’ll be able to view them in a different light.