Artist Statement

Raised in a religious household, views of death were sugarcoated with promises of eternal bliss in heaven. Being a righteous woman was comprised of being a lady of the house, looking after your husband, being proper and docile. These notions trickled into my work, making it a reflection of the self, a study of the role of the woman in Hispanic culture, and the fragility of life and death amongst it all. Both secular and religious themes are parallel to my upbringing and the opposing principles that I developed as a result of that. I investigate the relationship of women and outdated societal labels, and my role perpetuating the culture or defying it. These traditions in opposition to my ideologies create a discrepancy with what a woman should be and what a woman truly is.

I confront these relations, using generations of women within my family and the space I inhabit as my subjects. These subjects personify the panic of confinement, the beauty and horror of tradition, day-to-day life and how these associations intertwined with my surroundings affect my development as a woman. Through observation and documentation, I immortalize what surrounds me; taking fragments of the mundane, using both asymmetrical and balanced composition, as well as warm flesh tones with cool tinted environments paired with rich tones to create a contrasting sense of familiarity, warmth, and a slight feeling of uneasiness.

I am the voice of the woman who wishes to scream but remains silent. The one that is fierce but caged by conventional confinements, that exist only within the grasps of society. Confronting these philosophies, taking control of what a woman truly is: passionate, ardent, untethered and human. Accepting, reflecting and acknowledging the humanity behind being flawed.