Pink to White

About this work

The "Pink to White" art series is an exploration of the transformation and suppression of truth. The process: write messages on a canvas, then coat them with Drydex spackling. Initially pink, the Drydex slowly turns white, subtly concealing what lies beneath. This transition symbolizes the initial clarity of truth that eventually becomes distorted, ignored, or hidden. As the coating dries, bits of the underlying message resurface, yet never in full clarity. Some truths persist even in the face of suppression.

The first canvas hides three sentences written in Chinese characters: "我叫招娣," "我要回家," and "我爱自由." They translate to "My name is Zhaodi," "I want to go home," and "I love freedom." Three silenced voices, three veiled truths.

Subsequent pieces invited UCSB students to anonymously share their fears, confessions, and regrets around central questions on the canvas. By day's end, those raw truths were layered over. Hidden, but never gone.