Born in the Philippines, Nicole graduated with a Bachelor of Art History from The University of Hong Kong (HKU) in 2020. Her undergraduate research focused on pre-modern European art, but she is at present most interested in researching themes related to Hong Kong art, Southeast Asian art and migration. She is currently the Curatorial Intern of Visual Arts at M+, Hong Kong’s museum of visual culture, where she is leading their ethnic minority research project. 

Her engagement with Dr. Yeewan Koon and Michelle Wong’s Hong Kong Art Workshop during her final year as an undergraduate did not only shift her research trajectory from Europe to Asia but gave her the unparalleled opportunity to learn with and from some of the most insightful individuals in the field. As the Workshop gave rise to the Hong Kong Art Timeline project in the summer of 2020, Nicole was given the privilege to lead its development alongside Yi Ting Lee.

Nicole’s Satellite on minority art histories and migration was a daunting process of finding the answers to the question of why she had never seen someone like her in the art histories she has been studying. It involved deconstructing notions of ethnicity, nationality, identity and belonging as well as relearning her understanding of art history itself. She is now aware that certain questions prove more important than their answers and hopes that her Satellite and the Principle Timeline will inspire more daring questions to be asked and more brazen discussions to take place.