Emerald City | Acrylic and ink on canvas | 48” x 60”

Reimagining Oz’s Emerald City as a decaying metropolis 125 years later, this piece reflects on time and disillusionment. A haunting green-gray eye and crimson lips quoting Julia de Burgos—“We are a cry that gets lost in the wind, and the wind doesn’t know ‘that it carries our voice’”—frame a jagged skyline. Hundreds of handwritten literary quotes weave despair, resilience, and hope, while white dots evoke lingering magic amidst decay, exploring the tension between childhood dreams and adult realities.