My creative practices have always been influenced by the people and things I hold very close to me. Bringing elements of cultural identity and diversity, while using relationships that often show up as symbolic or literal, are major components to my creative practice. I enjoy the revealing moments in life. It invites the audience into the personal narratives around the resiliency that show up in the form of relationships between the self and others. My work borders the lines of experimentation through the use of various mediums and forms. While the predominant medium used in my work is oil paint, I often take atypical routes such as including reliefs by using tape, trash bags, found materials, and/or sculptural objects, to integrate the 2D and 3D space. I love defying the rules around what is a painting by often manipulating the arrangement of a work of art and questioning what it means to expand beyond the norm. The past three years have been the most challenging, from dealing with housing insecurity, family relocations, to facing a pandemic head on. My art is symbolic of my perception of the real world and draws a connection between shifting through environments as an Afro-Puerto Rican American. Drawing from a difficult upbringing, I reveal the things I hold closest to me while addressing social challenges by channelling these moments into my creative practices.

• 2021 MFA Spring Thesis