Nica’s work reveals place, identity & the cross-cultural experience largely through a photographic lens. Via analogue photography, viewers see through the eyes of a first generation Ilokana-American trying to navigate North American culture & drawing inspiration from the people & places around her, exploring diverse immigrant diasporas & communities in the US & beyond. Most recently, her work has expanded to experiment with textiles, installation, video & sound; examining themes of memory & loss, specifically how we [re]visit/[re]create memories & how different tiers of loss ranging from death to post-colonial melancholia are subconsciously embedded in these memories.

Aside from spending her early adolescence moving between states & continents, Nica grew up within immigrant, working class inner-city neighborhoods on the cusps of Koreatown, Pico-Union & Mid-City, Los Angeles. She is now residing in the Northeast Los Angeles community, where she works full time as a lead curator & cultural events coordinator. Nica never thought that becoming a curator would become a career for her. Still new to her own curatorial practice & learning on the job, she is focusing on collaborating with artists of color & bringing visibility to communities & global issues in need of a platform.