My paintings use baseball as a way to explore identity, belonging, and gender. Baseball is often seen as a traditionally masculine sport and a deeply rooted part of American culture. I was not exposed to baseball until I moved to the United States, and learning the game became a way for me to understand the culture around me and find a sense of belonging within it.
That experience connects closely to how I think about gender. Like culture, gender is shaped by expectations and learned behaviors. In my baseball paintings, I introduce stereotypical femininity and decorative elements into figures that are traditionally presented as masculine. These additions are not meant to diminish strength but to expand how masculinity can be understood.
My relationship with baseball is also marked by frustration. Women remain largely absent from the sport’s mainstream image. Although women were allowed to play in the 1940s, their presence was treated as a spectacle rather than equal participation. Today, there is still no women’s league affiliated with Major League Baseball. This absence—both historical and visual—plays an important role in my work.
I use bold color palettes, acrylic and oil paint, and three-dimensional elements to blur gender categories and challenge rigid expectations. The work is intentionally playful rather than heavy-handed. I am interested in the positive side of breaking boundaries—embracing change, letting go of labels, and allowing identity to feel open rather than fixed.
These paintings are not only for baseball fans. I want viewers to pay attention to their emotional responses—whether they feel amused, uneasy, confused, or delighted. By shifting a familiar image, I invite reflection on how it feels when a social boundary softens, and what becomes possible when those boundaries loosen.