When My Work Appeared on the Big Screen

One of the more unexpected and exciting moments in my creative journey came when my artwork made its first feature film appearance in the independent film The Other, Gold (2024).

Directed by David Lassiter and Sharae Nikai, the film follows a Black television writer living in Little Tokyo who is navigating grief, pandemic isolation, and the complicated process of reconnecting with a former best friend. The story explores themes of friendship, loss, and cultural identity, and was selected for the Tribeca Film Festival. The film is now available to stream on platforms including Tubi and Apple TV.

It was truly an honor to have my work featured in a film whose themes feel closely aligned with the emotional and cultural territory my artwork often explores.

Much of my work centers identity, memory, tenderness, and the quiet complexities of human connection. The Other, Gold inhabits many of those same spaces, examining how we move through grief, how relationships evolve, and how identity shapes the way we experience the world around us.

Seeing my artwork appear on screen was a surreal and beautiful experience.

Art in film often plays a subtle but important role in shaping the emotional atmosphere of a scene — helping to establish tone, mood, and visual storytelling. Knowing that my work could contribute to that environment, even in a quiet way, felt incredibly meaningful.

It was also exciting to think about my work reaching audiences in a completely new context. Through film, the artwork becomes part of a broader narrative — one that travels beyond the studio and into living rooms and theaters around the world.

Moments like this remind me how interconnected creative disciplines can be, and how visual art can live many different lives.