Portfolio
If I Were the Moon
If I can be anything// I’d be the moon// So I can watch over you in the darkness
If I can be anything// I’d be the moon// So I can guide you when you are lost
If I can be anything // I’d be the moon// So I can sing you to sleep
If I can be anything // I’d be the moon// So we can share stories under the stars
If I can be anything // I’d be the moon// So I can be eternal with the sun
If I can be anything// I’d be the moon// So I can guide you when you are lost
If I can be anything // I’d be the moon// So I can sing you to sleep
If I can be anything // I’d be the moon// So we can share stories under the stars
If I can be anything // I’d be the moon// So I can be eternal with the sun
Artist Statement
From a very young age I had an interest in art. It simply began by making holiday and birthday cards to my brothers who were/are incarcerated. They would send back these extravagant cards that, at that young age, I knew I was unable to top. In return, I would send coloring pages of Winnie the Pooh and Dora. Soon, my mother would gift me canvasses, paints, brushes, and the 64 count of crayons (which was quite impressive to an 8 year old). By the time I reached middle school, I was highly fascinated with the idea of being an artist for the rest of my life. I took art classes up until I was in high school. However, my art pathway had a slight switch up in my senior year when I took my first AP course, Black and White film photography. In this course, I began to explore my identity, community, and experiences on a deeper level. I started to document my family and neighborhood in a way that I had not seen during that time. I found it important to record the history of my people and how their stories were important to document.
As I moved my way to community college, I continued my self journey through photography courses. I was photographing my neighbors working on their lowriders, the viejos relaxing at the park, my niece playing with her sister, and so much more. I wanted to dive deeper into my work by capturing the people that surrounded me and capture their true essence. My subjects were people that looked like me, like my neighbors, who are not in mainstream media unless we are being arrested and being criticized for simply living. I found it crucial for me to document my people in the way we celebrate and appreciate each other.
Amongst photography, I picked up my paint brushes once again. Painting quickly became my favorite choice of medium. Soon I realized that I was continuously choosing subjects as I did in my photography. However, one difference in my choice of subjects was I began to paint more women bodies. My emphasis was brown skin. Through delicate paint strokes between dents, crevices, and curves, I was able to present what Brown female bodies meant to me. To be Brown means to be Huitzilopochtli’s (Aztec Sun god) sister. Being brown means my Brown body is not a threat, it is not a place of trauma, and it is not for a place of consumption. It is for softness, it is for birth, it is for ME.
Through my work, I am able to explore my identity and community. It is important for me as an artist to demonstrate social, political, and personal issues in my work. Identity is something that can endlessly be examined and I like to show my process of that and how I view myself within community and the influences around me.
As I moved my way to community college, I continued my self journey through photography courses. I was photographing my neighbors working on their lowriders, the viejos relaxing at the park, my niece playing with her sister, and so much more. I wanted to dive deeper into my work by capturing the people that surrounded me and capture their true essence. My subjects were people that looked like me, like my neighbors, who are not in mainstream media unless we are being arrested and being criticized for simply living. I found it crucial for me to document my people in the way we celebrate and appreciate each other.
Amongst photography, I picked up my paint brushes once again. Painting quickly became my favorite choice of medium. Soon I realized that I was continuously choosing subjects as I did in my photography. However, one difference in my choice of subjects was I began to paint more women bodies. My emphasis was brown skin. Through delicate paint strokes between dents, crevices, and curves, I was able to present what Brown female bodies meant to me. To be Brown means to be Huitzilopochtli’s (Aztec Sun god) sister. Being brown means my Brown body is not a threat, it is not a place of trauma, and it is not for a place of consumption. It is for softness, it is for birth, it is for ME.
Through my work, I am able to explore my identity and community. It is important for me as an artist to demonstrate social, political, and personal issues in my work. Identity is something that can endlessly be examined and I like to show my process of that and how I view myself within community and the influences around me.