PONDOPIUM

In 2018, I held an art show titled Pondopium at Argus Bar and Grill in Chico, California—its name blending my then-alias “Pondo” with “opium,” a plant whose notorious reputation often obscures its origins, much like the way digital art can be misunderstood or undervalued. I was in the midst of my undergrad at Chico State and determined to validate digital art as a fine art medium, so I created bold, graphic characters—many inspired by my own life—and placed them among simple geometric shapes I believed conveyed direct emotional resonance. Each figure, depicted in a dreamlike stance and staring directly at the viewer. My process involved sketching in traditional pen and ink, scanning the work to add color digitally, and ultimately printing everything as giclée canvas prints—a constant shift between physical and digital forms.