The mission of my work is to create works of art that act in a way as both mirrors and portals. The work is directly related to myself, but is meant to function as a way for the viewer to access and confront a part of themselves they might not be familiar with yet. By reflecting on both my inner and outer self, I aim to take parts of who I am and my struggles and humanize them. My challenges with being mixed race, queer, trans, and mentally ill are all present in the work, but so is my love for these identity markers. It is important to me that minority groups are normalized through my work and given a place to settle into and exist unapologetically. I want my audience to experience a sense of familiarity, confusion, sadness, and relief. They might come to the pieces and find them disorienting but that too is a valid reaction; the choice to not interact is still a reaction to my work. I put a lot of time and care into my pieces and that is evident because of how detailed they are; I imagine that for the most part that the work will be received well due to this consideration. Ultimately my art fulfills a deep personal need and serves as an accomplishment that I have to be able to fully understand and love myself through art. Hopefully through my creations I can offer a space to others to be able to do the same.
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Blue in the face, 5x7in, March 2024
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In this piece, I am challenging the struggle with strong emotions. Red symbolizes the color most commonly associated with anger and blue signifies sadness. It is titled “Blue in the face” because it is meant to show a sense of shame and sadness for having these overwhelming feelings from someone’s presence.
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| Collage Piece24, 5x7in, December 2024 |
This is a piece that I created in order to symbolize the start of my current relationship. This is the piece that is often read as overwhelming and that is the point; love is meant to feel overwhelming, abundant, and full of these small details. You can recognize a person, stop signs, flowers, the butterfly imagery, etc all as symbols of love and careful consideration.
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| I can’t sleep, 2023 |
This piece is inspired by a Duane Michals piece titled,”THE SPIRIT LEAVES THE BODY”. This piece is meant to challenge the notion of depression and suicide; it can feel like a part of you is watching you die from the inside out. The part of me that looks to the viewer so calmly is in a way reaching out to the viewer and yet also saying that they are aware and accept their fate in all forms.
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| lips like dogs, 5x7in, October 2024 |
This piece is made using an image of a sign and also an abstract shape that was made with my two hands. This piece is meant to show something that I value deeply, simple objects being used in an intentional way to draw emphasis to them. This piece I plan on pairing with a love poem that talks about lust and tension.
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| No sabo, 8x10in, January 2025 |
This is a piece that I created using my form and trees in a photo of myself that I found interesting when silhouetted. The only color apart from blue and black is on the bracelets of my wrists to show a pop of color and draw the eyes to my body. The poem at the top brings to light my feelings of being what some would call a “no sabo”, which means “I don’t understand” in reference to Spanish. I am Dominican and White and oftentimes growing up I felt excluded from the narrative because while I was raised with more of an American culture, I was visibly not just white. But I didn’t speak Spanish, so I didn’t feel Dominican enough and didn’t experience much black culture, so I didn’t feel black enough.
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