This work is inspired by my current life experiences as an aunt and an art instructor. My everyday connection with youngsters has heightened my senses, making me more alert and sensitive to my surroundings. At one point, I started seeing strange creatures on mindless automatons, like extracting outlines from marble tiles. And recognizing that adults and teenagers come to the studio not just to study but also to get away from their typical routine. These discoveries led me to realize that painting has always been my means of escaping since childhood. I'd lost touch with that passion for so long that I was worried I'd lost touch with my youth. Four artists influenced this piece. Donna Ong. Her promise to her inner child-self inspired me to wonder how I would please the child ‘Alice’. Asking to myself ‘Where would little Alice’s imagination take her?’, ‘Why would she reimagine these figures as such?’ Etc. Casey, a Singaporean artist, is a co-worker who inspired me to paint surreal worlds. Whereas mine functions as a window into this universe and these things begin to leak into our dimension. An industry called Crayon Creatures. Whose work inspired me to collaborate with the children I teach at my workplace. I got at least more than ten sketches and collaged these sheets together to create the composition in this final artwork. Yellowmushmellow is another Singapore artist, who influenced me with her colors. In my work, the pop colors were inspired by toys/objects that catch a child's eye. Although these figurines were not initially mine, as children, we carry about information or imagination to fantasize, to escape for a moment, much as adults do from their mundane.