A writer keen to explore the intersections of art and popular culture through incisive analysis.


My Latest Work

www.dailycal.org •

Rhythm Brat

“Brat Girl Summer,” the phrase penned by fans of the hyperpop musician Charli XCX, is this year’s ode to hedonism and self-indulgence: raucous club nights in foreign countries, 11 a.m. espresso martinis and a slew of fickle relationships. The profane is warmly embraced. Yet for me, working woefully long days at a gallery, the ethics and praxis of Brat Summer seemed to be a distant hope. However, the solution seemed simple enough to me. Task of the summer: inveigle myself into the upper echelons...
www.dailycal.org •

Velocity, virtuosity and vision: John Dipaolo stuns at Dolby Chadwick retrospective

Frenetic and unabashed strokes of acrylic dominate John DiPaolo’s paintings in his exhibition at the Dolby Chadwick Gallery. His intuitive art practice derives inspiration from “nature, light and color,” he told the Daily Californian in an interview. Though the creative voice relies upon a maelstrom of texture and color, he does not lack precision in his strokes, by any means. The sinuous twists and turns of organic shapes where colors collide then dissolve dramatizes Dipaolo’s canvas, mimicking
www.dailycal.org •

Ocean Vuong at BAMPFA: Poet who leaps into the abyss comes out alive

After a few preliminary introductions by the Townsend Center on the evening of Mar. 5, Ocean Vuong steps up to the podium at BAMPFA, bespectacled and ever so demure. Clearing his throat, his lilting voice washes over the audience, and breaths hitch in anticipation — because for anyone who knows Vuong, his authorial voice eclipses his diminutive stature. His writing is lucid, deliciously raw and full of pathos.

Vuong looks into the abyss of pain unwaveringly. One might assume the deaths of his m
pltfmgirl •

Manabu Koga’s submerged Tokyo

Perhaps a premonition of its future during the Anthropocene, Manabu Koga’s artistic vision of a city submerged certainly has its appeal. The Japanese based artist depicts women equipped with scuba diving gear adrift in an abandoned Tokyo. The city is entirely theirs for exploration.

His aquatic photography certainly is niche. His series Underwater Knee High Girls attests to his ability to capture fluidity and flirtation. From triangle bikini tops and mini-skirts to full body suits and stripy kn
www.dailycal.org •

Rhythm Brat

“Brat Girl Summer,” the phrase penned by fans of the hyperpop musician Charli XCX, is this year’s ode to hedonism and self-indulgence: raucous club nights in foreign countries, 11 a.m. espresso martinis and a slew of fickle relationships. The profane is warmly embraced. Yet for me, working woefully long days at a gallery, the ethics and praxis of Brat Summer seemed to be a distant hope. However, the solution seemed simple enough to me. Task of the summer: inveigle myself into the upper echelons...
www.dailycal.org •

Velocity, virtuosity and vision: John Dipaolo stuns at Dolby Chadwick retrospective

Frenetic and unabashed strokes of acrylic dominate John DiPaolo’s paintings in his exhibition at the Dolby Chadwick Gallery. His intuitive art practice derives inspiration from “nature, light and color,” he told the Daily Californian in an interview. Though the creative voice relies upon a maelstrom of texture and color, he does not lack precision in his strokes, by any means. The sinuous twists and turns of organic shapes where colors collide then dissolve dramatizes Dipaolo’s canvas, mimicking
www.dailycal.org •

Ocean Vuong at BAMPFA: Poet who leaps into the abyss comes out alive

After a few preliminary introductions by the Townsend Center on the evening of Mar. 5, Ocean Vuong steps up to the podium at BAMPFA, bespectacled and ever so demure. Clearing his throat, his lilting voice washes over the audience, and breaths hitch in anticipation — because for anyone who knows Vuong, his authorial voice eclipses his diminutive stature. His writing is lucid, deliciously raw and full of pathos.

Vuong looks into the abyss of pain unwaveringly. One might assume the deaths of his m
pltfmgirl •

Manabu Koga’s submerged Tokyo

Perhaps a premonition of its future during the Anthropocene, Manabu Koga’s artistic vision of a city submerged certainly has its appeal. The Japanese based artist depicts women equipped with scuba diving gear adrift in an abandoned Tokyo. The city is entirely theirs for exploration.

His aquatic photography certainly is niche. His series Underwater Knee High Girls attests to his ability to capture fluidity and flirtation. From triangle bikini tops and mini-skirts to full body suits and stripy kn