Siwan—
’Si’ means to start and ‘Wan’ means to finish. Together, Siwan means to begin and complete.
As a kid, I began to spark my creative neurons on sketchbooks after sketchbooks. And now, I am enjoying every part of unfolding my creative journey through design and illustration. My goal is to share this joy with students, and find the art lover in every one of them.
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Teaching Philosophy
My younger self is so very dear to me. Like the inner layers of tree rings, she quietly resides in the deepest chamber of my soul. Whenever I need direction, I knock on her door because the answer often lies right there. From infancy, childhood, adolescence, to adulthood, all phases of one’s life are a series of chain reactions. However, the pathway is obviously never linear. There are bumps and cracks that are sometimes so painful, confusing, and lonely. Becoming an educator carries the honorable weight of redirecting your students when in need, so the next outer layer amends and builds a stronger foundation for their future. In doing so, art is my natural medium and my native language.
This innate love for shapes and colors led me to a robust study and career in illustration and motion graphics. As my responsibilities grew, I connected more and more with aspiring college students—speaking as a guest lecturer, building mentor-to-mentee relationships, discovering interns, as well as overseeing them. These experiences acted as a gravitational force pulling me back to when I was a volunteer teacher’s assistant to younger kids for roughly two years. It reminded me how rewarding it was to earn a student’s trust and help them get back on their feet with confidence. Eventually, I used this longing as a fuel to write and illustrate a children’s book about growth, which echoed a virtuous cycle of amplifying my passion for working with K-12 students,
Throughout a creative process, there are three criterias to instill in a student’s mind: sheer joy, discipline, and self-actualization. Sheer joy—an art classroom is a safe space for students to indulge in their senses; the sight of a harmonious color palette, the sound of pencil gliding against textured paper, the smell of fresh oil paint, and the touch of soft clay at your fingertips. Discipline—planning and executing an art piece from beginning to finish is a laborious task that requires strategy, improvisation, and hyperfocus, which are skills they need in any other subject and life in general. Self-actualization—art creation lets you tap into a flow state, which has a healing mechanism that relieves stress and allows you to digest your emotions subconsciously.
This approach mirrors that of a progressivist education philosophy. The nature of art creation is a “learning by doing” activity because it allows students to activate their whole body. Maneuvering their larger muscles to sketch broad strokes paired with practicing fine motor skills to render details, all lead to sparking their neurons to learn and implement. After a concise introduction to visual principles and the assignment, the rest of class time will be composed of students working as problem-solvers, and the teacher supporting as a facilitator. There will be a flexible and healthy balance of individual assignments and group projects. I aim to create a holistic development of students’ social, emotional, physical, and intellectual growth through both self-regulation and collaboration. Students choosing their own topic, materials, size, and format of artwork would be a gateway to tailored student-centered learning.
At the end of a school year, my goal is to have achieved these two sets of results—in which the two are on a gradual scale rather than totally separate groups. The first is for the little artists; I wish to provide time and space for them to gain self-esteem through their best subject, which art did for me. Along with this, there is practical benefit in providing them exposure to the diverse visual arts pathways ahead of them and proper training as future creative professionals. With the rapid surge of AI, advancing ideation, concepting, originality, and taste is more crucial than ever. Therefore, thorough goal-setting takes place prior to creation and in-depth critique sessions after creation. Secondly, this one goes out to students who may not perceive themselves as an “artist.” Apart from technical skill level, I believe there is an artist inside of every individual, which I find is the beauty of the human race. Discovering the hidden artist beneath is my initial mission; enriching their future lifestyle as someone who enjoys and appreciates visual arts is the next.
When discussing education, the first keyword that comes up in my head is “takeaway,” because the basis of the teacher-to-student dynamic lies in “take-away”. This is an open invitation to my future students to take a little piece of me and the rest of the world, and blossom into independent, compassionate, and responsible adults in their lives forward.
Artist Statement
Throughout the years, I have been blessed with exposure to a wide range of mediums. Whether analog or digital, personal or commercial, my body of work traces a continuous trail of footsteps—what I have loved, where I have been, and what I have hoped for. Inspiration often emerges from everyday life, when a single detail suddenly feels significant and intertwines with something much more grandiose within myself. Through a constant yearning to create beautiful shapes and colors, I have been writing a visual autobiography without even realizing it.
My initial works largely consisted of still life drawings and paintings in graphite, charcoal, chalk pastel, colored pencil, and acrylic paint, honing the technical skills needed to bring my imagination to life. The importance lay in testing a wide range of variables: organic or mechanical subjects, orderly or chaotic arrangements, high- or low-contrast lighting, and monochromatic or vibrant color palettes. The next transformation in my artistic journey came with finding meaning and developing taste. I delved into the depths of my emotions—discovering self-love through re-enacting fond childhood memories, expressing deep appreciation for nature, and confronting untreated wounds and fears. Alongside this conceptual growth, I began to move beyond familiar materials, introducing watercolor and oil paint, exploring mixed media, and testing three-dimensional forms such as sculpture and layered paper cutouts.
Marking the conclusion of my analog-focused practice, I brought my skills into the professional realm of motion graphics. With each client project, I step into the role of storyteller for a different manifesto or persona, an experience rooted deeply in empathy. This process has expanded my worldview; often, researching an unfamiliar topic leads me to become its strongest advocate. My proudest projects include Apple Game Store promotion, Disney+ Hollowstream graphics package, and Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Sports promotion. My digital work continues to originate from illustrations on paper, mimicking the rough textures of analog media. At the same time, working in RGB space awakened my love for extra-vivid colors. Use of vectors also pushed my works away from realism, skewing more towards stylized and geometric shape language.
As my career progressed, I began directing projects as well, which revealed to me that expression can extend far beyond the limits of myself. Through collaboration with other designers and animators, I discovered the exponential reward of creating together. I now hope to spread that joy even further—especially to younger students.