At eighteen, I had no idea there was a contemporary art world. My genetic family produced farmers, nurses, teachers, and military members only. I knew I didn’t want to follow any of those career paths, but I knew that I too wanted to become a “useful” person somehow. Decent SAT scores and wildly intricate and colorful lab reports I had made for my high school biology class gave my guidance counselor the idea for my career. I initially set off to UC Berkeley to become a biological/scientific illustrator. I understood from my rather adorable chain-smoking guidance counselor that I could even apply my skills to paint prosthetic eyes for people—that alone felt both fascinating and useful.