Artist Statement

My work is focused on exploring my Mexican culture and highlighting my heritage growing up as a first generation Mexican American. I explore these themes through expressive paintings about various cultural subjects like ancient Aztec figures, animals native to Mexico and its history, and people representative of the Mexican culture. I intend to express what I feel through these subjects.
One of my biggest influences that help guide my art is my family. I firmly believe the struggle my parents and siblings went through, being immigrants in America, plays a large role in my art. My younger siblings, who are not immigrants, also play a large role in why I went to school for art, which is to show them that they can do it too. Another large influence on my art is the Chicano film industry. These films played a large part in my childhood; they help me to see my culture in a way that I couldn’t see firsthand.
Through these influences, I want my art to explore my heritage and what my culture means to me. I want to use my work to represent my family, childhood, and the parts of Mexican culture that have shaped who I am. I also hope my art can show others that their culture and personal experience as a first gen can be something to be proud of and express through art.