Connection, Resilience, Balance

Through art-making, I explore identity and dissonance found in our “place in the family of things”, as Mary Oliver put it. I hope to reconcile the distance we perceive between humanity and the natural world. Humans are at the boundary of artifice and nature. Our bodies are the conduit that transforms one into another. The places we inhabit become defined by that relationship, whether it is rooted in conflict, or cooperation. I imagine characters, bodies and places that represent connectedness through care of each other, self, and the ecosystems we live in. The hidden or forgotten places, or repeated tasks that contain our lives and care, seem valueless in their abundance. But by putting them in focus, I create icons of connection, resilience and balance. 

I hope to open the door to new perspectives that encourage attention and participation in the ecosystems, and culture systems, in which we live.

Bio

I am a multidisciplinary artist living and creating in Tampa, Florida. Formerly I lived in Atlanta, GA where I studied art and worked in early childhood education, and developed a passion for the universal creativity of child development. Following that I lived in Morganton, NC, where I spent my covid years, worked for the National Park Service, started a family and a small jewelry business, and came to know myself as a tinkerer and jack of all trades. I am a child of Florida wetlands, raised by a strong, formerly solo mother, Cuban immigrant father, and keeper of their stories. The lived experiences of the people in my life are the spark that drives my work.

I earned my BFA in drawing and painting from Florida State University and later completed my MFA in Sculpture at Georgia State University. I have had two solo exhibitions: Whim and Want at 621 Gallery in Tallahassee, FL in 2017, and my thesis exhibition, The Whole of the Hidden Thing, at Ernest G. Welch Gallery in Atlanta, GA in 2019. During my time earning degrees I also exhibited at SOUP Experimental in Tallahassee, AQUA Art Miami during Miami Art Week, The Plantation Wildlife Arts Festival in Thomasville, GA, Trio Gallery in Athens, GA, as well as others.

In 2019 I was proud to be included in Recall, Recollect and Reconstruct, at Kyoto International Community House in Japan, curated by Soude Dadras.

More recently, my work was in Peace on the Pier, an exhibition at the Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center, promoting World Peace Day and local environmental education endeavors.