Project Series

As a restless Multimedia Artist, I have a lot of work and projects to display. Sections below show the versatility of my portfolio and skills.

• Primary Work
• Portfolio Sections

Primary Projects

These are the most recent projects I have been working on.

Portfolio Sections

About KCRNixie

• Artist Statement
• Artist Bio
• Resume

Resume

Writer + Designer + Illustrator + Musician + Photographer

The Painted Poems Project

• Project Introduction
• Introduction Post
• Project Template
• PSA Section!
• Journals
• Spoken Word Performance

More poems coming soon!

• Writer's Block
• She Will Remember That
• What a small world

All of the writing is displayed in separate "posts" to make it more digestible for social media. Because Twitter limits a user to four images per post, this is done in batches of four or less. Is this more or less convenient for the audiences? Is the system set up for the artist or against the artist?Follow The Painted Poems Project closely on the socials.

• Instagram
• Twitter
• Mastodon
• Tumblr
• Bluesky

Introduction

One of the most human feeling is the need to be heard, but how can I be heard if there is no room for my voice, my writing? I am here to defy the limitations I’ve been given to work with. I am here to make more space.Something I’ve wanted to do for a few years now is figure out how I can share my writing to the social media scene when everything is so image-based and there’s not a lot of room for writing.As a society, we are engulfed in a world of videos, reels, clips, whatever you may call them. Unless you make a video about it, somehow your ideas don't come across people’s feeds as often. There are very few spaces where you are allowed to share your writing alongside other forms of media and so many of these platforms tend to be niche-inclined and for specific purposes.This is a statement piece against the way social media is designed today. In this series, I aim to criticize the social media-based society we live in and how everything is now video-based to the point where there is so little room for poetry and writing on socials.From Twitter’s 280-character cap to how we use that app mostly as a random collection of thoughts and updates nowadays. We are no longer calling Twitter “X”, not because we aren't used to the name change, but because we have no respect for the platform anymore. How Instagram’s photo and reel features are limited, capping a post at 2,200 characters. Instagram’s secondary app, Threads, is essentially a makeshift Twitter at this point. Tumblr is one of the few spaces still designed for readers and writers, and how limitless this platform alone can be, and we use all of these apps to show only the good moments we have stored in our photos.This is about how we move away from literature so fast these days that we’re losing vocabulary and grammar and substituting it with lingo and slang instead. Schools aren’t teaching proper grammar in American educational systems anymore because of social media. Bookstores are mostly empty when you arrive at their destination, and Barnes and Noble are switching between playing defense and offense with bankruptcy because of Amazon.Download an app to speak your mind. What if I don't want to do that? What if I don't want my story to disappear within the next 24 hours, something more permanent, more pronounced? Make more space for me to write, please.The point of this project is to make writing seen in a digital world not meant for it with the platforms we've been given to work with. What about the writers and the multimedia artists?This is a "screw you" to those who made the system this way. This is about everyone else's writing just as much as it is about mine.Thus, from a sense of wanting to belong, a new series emerges,The Painted Poems Project.

Citations

Writer Strike Information
Twitter Name Change
Grammar in Educational Systems
The Effects of Social Media and How We Write
What is Pop Art?
First Things First Manifesto (2020 Edition)

Get Up + Get Involved!

"Regardless, if you want to make a change then who else is better off making it than yourself,
Or so I am told."

Performance

CVPA Art Exchange Open Mic
Performed at George Mason University
09/27/2024
Video coming soon!

A Painted Poem

This is the opening performance to the advocacy section of this project. This poem serves as a performance meant to start conversation and inspire others to inquire about this project. This poem performance is the staple behind this project and the main introduction.

I open Twitter
Get distracted for a few seconds looking at cool art on the internet and—
Crap. Focus.
[Breathe]"New Post"
I type:Did you know that a post is limited to 280 characters?
That's not a lot, right?
What, like 2 or 3 sentences, maybe?
4 if you are strong enough to squeeze these words in the jar that is this post,
Close the lid fast enough as to not spill the leftover fluid that is my thoughts.
3 characters left.I have more to say so I add to the thread with a new post.
I type:Only 4 images per post?
I think I can work with that.
I think I can squeeze all of my meaning into the photos I've created,
It's like squeezing lemons into a glass,
I have enough room, probably.
Water it down and sprinkle sugar to make it more digestible for the viewer?
10 characters left.I add:One of the most human feeling is the need to be heard,
But how can I be heard if there is no room for my voice, my writing?
I am here to defy the limitations I’ve been given to work with.
I am here to make more space, not just for myself.
I think I have to paint a poem.
10 characters left.
[Breathe]
PostI come back the next week and start again.
"New Post"
I type:Let me tell you what a Painted Poem means to me.
It is the juxtaposition of language and the space in between the silence.
It is a conversation piece.
It's a temporary solution.
I am making room where there is no room.
No more pickle jars or lemonade stands.
I am prying open this pantry and letting my writing spill all over this countertop.
-63 characters left.Shit. I'll fix that later.
Regardless, I add:See, I'm not from around here,
I want to make a feast out of my language,
So to me, this meal is more important than the dessert that is being internet famous.
Instagram is a little more forgiving,
Leaves space for 2,200 characters,
But that does not mean it isn't a perpetrator.
How many of us get shadow banned for speaking about nothing?
How much of our work has been taken from us without our consent and without notice?
Terms and conditions are brutal if you don’t read them carefully.
-209 characters left.I continue:Download an app to speak your mind!
So, speak your mind? Y/N
I twisted my tongue to get here.
Are you reading this?
Are you watching this shit?
Is the system set up for the artist or against the artist?
Because it isn't clear anymore.
What about the writers? The multimedia artists?
-1 characters left.What about the musicians,
The film makers,
And everyone in between?I keep writing though I know I am out of room.
I add:What about the big-mouthed politicians,
Yes, I thought of that.
No, I do not have a solution to that,
But sometimes the pros do outweigh the cons, hopefully.
Yes, this is a conversation piece,
Left open for discussion,
Do not just shelve it back in that pantry.Yes, this is a temporary solution.
A Painted Poem is meant for bigger things.
A band aid on an open wound,
And without the stitches that are your voices,
This wound will never heal.I stopped counting my characters a long time ago and-
Focus, focus, focus!
[Breathe]This is not just about the preservation of an artist,
Or the art.
This is about the way language is being prepared for students.
It is chopped up carelessly and packaged under false pretense.
Have you checked the ingredients list?
Do you know what you are consuming?
Do you know the difference between what is correct and what will hurt you?I see these mistakes all the time.
Grammar is no longer an emphasis.
The difference between you are and your is not distinguishable anymore and it makes me mad.
It makes me angry to see a failing educational system start so early on giving up on us.
It isn’t right.
But who you may think is at fault isn’t actually who really is.
It isn’t the teachers, no.
Don’t get mad at the baker for messing up the recipe.
Get mad at the similarities between the containers in which baking soda and baking powder are held in.
It’s okay, we’ve all made that mistake before.This isn’t the end though.
It was never meant to be.
There is so much more to discuss,
And at this point, I’m better off writing this in my notes app instead,
Because the pantry got too full,
And they didn’t leave enough room for what was important.
Got too excited putting away the fun stuff.
They forgot to take care of the things that really matter.Regardless, if you want to make a change then who else is better off making it than yourself,
Or so I am told.So I paint my poems
The best way I know how to.
I paint my poems wishing you’d paint them with me.
Hoping you’d ask me about mine and we could have a conversation about ours.
Hoping you’d inspire others to do the same as I am.You have to try.
So please.
Paint a Poem with me.[Breathe]
Draft Saved.

Template + Specifications

My definition of a painted poem can mean something entirely different than what your definition means.
This project is fluid and the method is less important than the message, but that does not mean that the way I have chosen to do this isn't elaborate and intentional. If you don't know how to paint your own poems, this is a guide as to how I make mine."Let me tell you what a Painted Poem means to me.
It is the juxtaposition of language and the space in between the silence.
It is a conversation piece.
It's a temporary solution.
I am making room where there is no room."Downloadable files for Affinity and Adobe Apps coming soon!

Public Service Announcements

This section of the project aims to question aspects of social media, education, language, limitations placed by society, and more in the form of poetry, question, and statement. The format is set up in a way to allow for people to write freely but also answer the question posed if you so choose to, along with a PSA message that expands on the idea behind the post in a hopeful but adamant tone.

PSA Topics

• Limitations
• Have you noticed?

Make More Room For Us!

PSA: Your voice matters more than you think it does! So take a chance and speak the hell up!Question: How do you break limitations in what you are making?

Have you Noticed?

PSA: You pay attention to what's on your phone, but you have no idea what is happening where you are.Question: How present are you in the moment and what can you do to be here, now?

Writer's Block

Do you ever just feel stuck?

She Will Remember That

You will never know...

What a small world.

Coincidences happen, or do they?

Sometimes, I have words

Coming soon...

Journals

These poems are a collection of poems taken from my journals. These journals focus on different aspects of my life.

• The Art of Noticing

Journal - The Art of Noticing

A collection of journals focused on "The Art of Noticing".

But VOTE Nonetheless!

2024
Series of Digital Design Posts
6 x 6 in

Publications

Illustrations

Illustrations have always been a staple for what I make, partly because they can be used to tell stories in a visual way. While I heavily rely on literature for most of my story telling process, character design and illustration is a refreshing addition to my work.

• Crown Logo
• Falling Down
• Pixel Art
• SONY's Hobbie Brown
• Strix Dreams

Logos and Mascots

Hokobishu - Hokobishu is a friend of mine who streams videogames such as Mass Effect, Kingdom Hearts, and more on twitch, YouTube, and other platforms.Strix Dream - Strix Dream is one of the competitive teams that played in the Splatoon Tournaments.Crown Logo + King Crow Rio - This is the original logo and mascot for the branding I was originally making with the intention to be more focused on illustration. Since then, my branding has been reworked and refocused, but the impact that the original branding was kept and still applies to my current branding.

Pixel Art

Pixel art to me is a staple for my illustration pieces. This comes from the idea that I originally wanted to make pixel art for video games, but I also wanted my style to have a twist and be unique.Pixel Bitten - This is one of the first self portraits I made. This was more so meant to display the versatility of my skills, from illustration to pixel art integration.Yellow Flower - This is just one of the many pixel art pieces I've made.Teacher 1 + 2 - One of the most meaningful character I have read about was Teacher, from the manga series The Girl From The Other Side; I wanted to make art for this character as an homage for what is lost and gained and what change really means in the story.

Hobbie Brown

This is one of the most creative art pieces I have taken on. This was commissioned to me right after the release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.2023
COPIC Markers, Ink
3.5 x 6 in

Strix Dreams

Strix Dream is a former Splatoon 3 ESport Team which I had the pleasure to get to know over the process of making the logo for their team. The owl is the team's mascot.

Singles

Size: 16x16 inchesAs a homage to all of the fandoms and stories that have influenced my art style, I dedicated these pieces to the things that made me the artist I am today.The Wanderers (Homestuck) - Music has always played a big part in what I make, and the soundtrack to Homestuck played a big part of this process. When I was younger and learning to draw digitally, I would stay up way too late and draw while I listened to music. This album, The Wanderers, was in the rotation of music for my creative cycle. While this album is no longer available, I am glad I was able to get it before it became archived material. This specific image is from the song Riches To Ruins Movements I & II This is an archival piece now.Raphael (TMNT) - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is one of the shows I grew up watching when I came to America, so for a lot of my early language learning, I managed to learn from TMNT. This inspired a bigger rabbit hole however, one that delved deeper into the world of comics and artists I later found that have made some significant influence on what drives the work I make today.

Series

Why stop at one when I could tell so many stories?

Single Pieces

Coming soon...

Human Things

It's not about humans, it's about the stories left behind by them.

Towers

More information about this project coming soon.

Pipe Dream

When you stop to notice, you can find pipe dreams everywhere.

Exhibition Pieces

These artworks have been displayed throughout multiple shows and exhibitions.More details coming soon.

Gossip

This series focuses on birds and the stories they tell, after all, birds are gossipers.

Series

Singles

“One by One” by Ruth Ware

2024
Digital Design Book Cover
15 x 7.5 in

The Immigration Series

The Body

Quote from the poem "To The Body" by Rudy Francisco.

Gravity

Quote from the poem "The Crickets Have Arthritis" by Shane Koyczan.

The Picnic Cookbook

This was a teamwork design project. You can buy the full Picnic Cookbook here!

Fox's Tail Logo Design + Stationary

This project has two parts, the logo design itself and the company stationary design.

• Logo
• Stationary

Fox's Tail Logo Design

Logo design made for a fictional Barbershop business.

Fox's Tail Stationary Design

Stationary design made for the logo design.

Asian Arts Museum Brochure

This is a brochure made for the Asian Arts Museum.

Dancing Salsa

This is a package design made for a fictional salsa sauce company.

Music

This page is being reconstructed! Please Stay Tuned! :)

Commissions

Terms of Service, dos and don'ts, prices, and examples below!

• Terms of Service
• Dos and Don'ts
• Prices
• Examples

Terms of Service

1.) Do not remove my watermark or signature!2.) Payment is required to begin the commission process, either half or full payment up front.3.) When posted publicly, credit me via @ and tag.4.) I hold full rights to the art I make, ergo I will post on social media and on my website as I see fit. If you have something time sensitive or personal, we can negotiate terms of usage.5.) Tips are always appreciated! :)

Under Construction!

Commission prices are currently being reworked, please stand by as prices are set up. Thank you.