Under settler colonialism, we see ourselves as separate from the natural world, yet it’s undeniable that we’re still animals led by our most primitive needs. The colonial systems that govern us are violent and unsustainable, yet highly coercive, pulling us into frozen states of distraction, denial, and compliance. 

 

My broad exploration is the grief that arises from the resulting severance - severance from the land, from our cultures of origin, from community, from the reality of death, and ultimately, from our humanity. It’s a torment taking place just beneath the fraudulent luxury of our modern lives.

 

With this at its core, my focus expands inward to confront themes which shape my own perspective as a racially mixed Latina with a genetic, often invisible disability. The hybrid bodies of my sculpted figures are suboptimal for basic functioning, reflecting the helpless feeling of being disabled in a society hostile to such differences. The feminine presentation highlights women’s subjugation under patriarchy: feeling hunted and sexualized while pressured to perform perfect femininity. I use Catholic aesthetics due to the pervasiveness of Catholicism within many Latin American cultures, as Spanish conquest meant its stifling ubiquity served as my first exposure to art.

 

Above all of this, I strive for sincerity. This work is a compulsive self-flaying put on view, an invitation to look inward to recognize and grieve what has been lost. In doing so, we might find a way back to ourselves.

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