Utilizing varied methods of research–literary, ethnographic, community engaged, self-reflective–to inform their practice, Isabel’s work documents ridiculous and consequential moments of exploration, focusing on the self and concepts of wellbeing. Recognizing the separation of physical, emotional, and communal health in Western medicine–and lacking avenues for peace and healing where they grew up–Isabel found themself seeking spaces to explore holistic wellbeing.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) frameworks–developed over millennium–act as a guide to understand our contemporary existence. TCM illuminates the universe's pendulum of opposing yet complementary forces (hot and cold, joy and grief, movement and stagnation, masculinity and femininity) which we must nourish in balance. In Isabel’s work, they adapt and redefine TCM knowledge to look at the body, queerness, and their surroundings. They use food, meridians, and zodiacs as silly yet meaningful symbols of ownership and identity. Isabel paints vivid and muted colors that define and redefine ourselves; their brushwork is translucent and layered to convey the complexity and vulnerability of identities and experiences.