The complexities of being a brown Mexican-American from a small town in the US heartland are the formative inspirations of my recent artwork. These paintings bring voice to stories that people of color, multicultural individuals, and immigrants want to share about themselves through visually poetic constructed realities. Themes of isolation, belonging, joy and hope emerge in the visual storytelling. The narratives are fictive futures, alternate realities, speculative nonfiction, or distorted depictions of past events. What could be interpreted as nostalgia is often subverted by psychological tension built on questions of race, gender, and identity. My paintings are not didactic nor do they propose solutions for these issues. Instead, my paintings prioritize authentic experiences that represent and value Black and Brown lives.
