California Dream

The painting, California Dream, reflects a vision planted long before I ever came to America. In the late 1970s, my aunts and uncle returned to Malaysia after studying in the U.S., carrying with them a wider sense of possibility. As a teenager, I watched their lives expand and quietly thought, I want to go to America too. That was the beginning of my dream.
 
Thirty years ago, that dream became reality. San Francisco—its skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge—was my entry point into a new life. It’s where I continued learning, painting, and finding my voice as an artist. The city has changed over the decades, and I have grown alongside it. This piece honors both my past and my ongoing journey.
 
In California Dream, a golden poppy cradles the city that welcomed me. I’m drawn to poppies for their vibrant orange glow and for John Steinbeck’s description of their “liquid gold.” Their resilience mirrors my own experience. Being an immigrant requires grit—learning to thrive in a new place, to bend without breaking, to bloom where you are planted.