Mural
Superbloom
for SJ Walls (formerly known as Pow! Wow! San Jose)
This wall was inspired by my late grandfather, 爷爷, who passed away shortly before I began painting this. In fact, Empire 7 Studios reached out to me to be a part of the 2019 SJ Walls mural festival when I was in China for his funeral. In the depths of grief, as well as gratitude to my grandfather for his immense contributions to my life, it felt only natural that this wall would be in his honor.
This wall depicts a central character, with a crane about to take flight on her back. To me, it represents my inner feeling of, "you took care of me for so long, you carried us on your wings, and now — don't worry — I will carry on your legacy."
Ian Lundie
This was Day 3, the day I brought Mochi to paint with me. She chased after stray cats, upturned her playpen, and barked at everyone. After that I was like, alright never again, hah.
Lanny Nguyen
This mural is located at at community center in San Jose where a lot of seniors congregate. My grandpa absolutely loved taking walks, going to the park, and making friends (even though he didn't speak English), so I'd like to think that in some way, he may have seen this mural and smiled to himself.
Special thanks to Carlos, Jen, Stacey, and Empire 7 team for having me. Thank you to photographers Lanny Nguyen and Ian Lundie for making us look damn good.
