During his travels in southeast Asia, GMONIK experienced first hand the effects of consumer culture. He observed the disparities between the wealthy and the impoverished classes. But there was one thing that united both - their fixation of consumer products. With an overwhelming arena of over produced cheap goods, people would throw away their old things for shiny new versions, leaving behind the waste for nature to deal with. This became the source and influence for GMONIK's work.

GMONIK is preoccupied by the idea of planned obsolescence. This is the concept that things are built with the understanding they will be discarded or replaced in order to insure a continuous business on the same product. He feels that we, as a culture, are too readily able to dismiss things as old - we tend to not appreciate things for the time, ingenuity, and skill put into the development and design of objects. 

After three years living abroad, GMONIK came back to the US at the end of 2012 and has been actively establishing himself as a creative force in the art community in San Diego. The imagery in GMONIK's work intertwines pop culture with urban decay.