AAPIHM Artist Interviews with Kyla Viray

In celebration of AAPI Heritage Month, I (Kyla, Social Media Manager for Club Rambutan) had the opportunity to connect and highlight a few AAPI artists whose work is shaped by their identities, experiences, and communities. Through these questions I asked, I learned about their creative journeys that brought them to where they are today, the cultural influences that inspire their work and what being an AAPI artist means to them.

Sherelie Lum: Filipino & Chinese-American Photographer

The first artist I spoke with was Sherelie Lum, a Filipino & Chinese American photographer, videographer, dancer, and creative director from South San Francisco Bay Area. Throughout the interview we got to talk about her identity, family, and how culture continues to shape the way she creates art.

Between Suns, Sherelie Lum

For Sherelie, art has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember. She first discovered her love for art when she was just eight years old in elementary school art class. What started with drawing and painting eventually grew into making polymer clay charms, and later expanded into what she does nowadays which is photography, videography, and dance.

When asked about her earliest influences, Sherelie reflected and immediately thought of the teachers Ms. Castillo and Ms. Bonny, who encouraged her creativity. They introduced her to everything ranging from oil pastels, lanyard making, knitting, and many more. As she got older she found inspiration online through creators like Conan Gray, whose videos sparked her interest in photography and visual storytelling.

Today, Sherelie’s work is deeply connected to her Filipino and Chinese heritage. Rather than existing separately from her art, her culture is something she intentionally weaves into the projects that she creates.

One example is from her creative direction series Between Suns, where she wore an heirloom passed down from her lola as a way of honoring her Filipino roots. More recently, her cafe pop up Shlums Kapé, incorporated mahjong, a game that was a constant presence throughout her childhood. What started as a personal nod to her Chinese side later became something more meaningful when she additionally discovered the connection of mahjong to Filipino culture.

Throughout the interview, one theme kept coming up which was the importance of memory. Sherelie shared how much of her inspiration comes from her grandparents and the stories they carried with them from the Philippines and China. Food was specifically the most important way she connects to her culture.

Sherelie spoke about the relationship she had with her grandfather and how sharing meals became a way of understanding not only him, but the culture he came from. That connection between food, family, and identity eventually found its ways into projects like Shlums Kapé, transforming her pop up into something much more personal and intimate than being a typical cafe experience.

When I asked what it means to be an AAPI artist, Sherelie described it as both an opportunity and responsibility. She sees art as a way to share stories that aren’t always told and as a space to navigate her own experience growing up between Filipino and Chinese American identities. What stood out most to me was her desire to create work that helps others feel seen. Whether someone is reconnecting with their own heritage or still figuring out where they fit, Sherelie hopes her work encourages people to explore their own cultural identities deeply.

She also spoke about a challenge many AAPI artists experience which is balancing creative passions with cultural expectations around success. For many artists, pursuing a creative career can mean pushing against expectations that prioritize that stability and traditional career paths. Because of this, Sherelie hopes people take the time to understand that AAPI culture is more than an aesthetic or trend. It’s a lived experience filled with history, complexity, and personal stories that deserve to be respected. 

Talking with Sherelie reminded me that art can be more than self expression, it can be a way of preserving memories, honoring family, and creating connections between generations. Through her photography, creative direction, and community centered projects, she continues to celebrate both sides of her heritage while creating spaces where others can do the same.

Darius Varize: Illustrator & Painter with Black, Japanese, and Filipino roots.

The second artist I spoke with was Darius Varize, a Bay Area native with Black, Japanese, and Filipino roots. His art is primarily through illustration, painting and drawing. 

Growing up as the son of a retired clothing designer, Darius was surrounded by art and fashion from an early age. Those experiences shaped not only his creative interests but also the way he approaches storytelling in his art today.

When discussing about his influences, Darius pointed to artists and creators such as Yoshitomo Nara, Otomo Katsuhiro, and Gainax animation. Their work helped shape his understanding of composition, and visual storytelling.

Like Sherelie, Darius sees his heritage as inseparable from the work he creates. Rather than intentionally setting his art to be about identity, he explains that his Japanese and Filipino roots naturally influence how he views the world and the references he draws from. Through animation, fashion, and visuals, those experiences became part of his work.

One aspect of Darius’ work that I found really interesting was his focus on representation. Inspired by Yoshitomo Nara’s use of cardboard as canvas, Darius began experimenting with similar materials while reimagining who gets represented within those spaces. He intentionally creates worlds that include black, brown, and more ambiguous bodies, people who have often been left out of traditional narratives and visual culture.

For Darius, being an AAPI artist means contributing his own experiences and perspectives to larger conversations about culture, identity, and representation. As someone who comes from multiple cultural backgrounds, Darius embraces complexity and uses art as a way to explore how different identities can coexist.

When asked about what he wishes more people understood about AAPI communities, Darius emphasized diversity. He challenged the idea that there is a single AAPI experience, explaining that AAPI artists bring a wide range of histories, influences, and perspectives into their work. To him, representation is not only about visibility, but about who gets the opportunity to shape culture and to tell these stories.

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As we celebrate AAPI heritage month, conversations like these remind us that art can be more than creative expression, it can be a way of preserving culture, building community, and telling stories that might go unheard.

Whether through family traditions, food, photography, illustration, or storytelling, both artists honor where they come from while creating spaces for others to feel seen. Their work serves as a reminder that AAPI communities are incredibly diverse, and that those diverse experiences deserve to be celebrated and shared.

Although Sherelie and Darius work in different mediums and draw inspirations from different experiences, both artists highlighted something that stayed with them throughout these interviews. Identity is not one dimensional.