Growing up in Southern California, I always remembered looking forward to seeing the Lion Dance performances. It was something my Mom loved about her own childhood, and passed onto the rest of our family. She even coordinated a surprise Lion Dance set for my 16th birthday. 

I was always in awe of their fluid and powerful movements. As someone who grew up enamored with fairytales and folklore, this felt as close as I could get in the "real world". 

Lion Dancers served as the first bookend to me going from childhood into adulthood, and now it feels only fitting that they're the key symbol for me to move into a more serious phase of my art career.