Why Painting?

I continually seek to capture a sense of fluidity and transformation in the world. The challenge is to reveal a visual truth about our fleeting world—to make visible what often escapes words.

I paint in narrative terms. Being a storyteller has served me well as an educator and art historian, and I have always been a painter first. Painting is a necessity. It is the process through which I make meaning, understand the world, and continue my own path of self-actualization.

Why Abstraction?

Abstraction feels especially necessary in our time. We live within realities that are fragmented, layered, and often difficult to comprehend. Semi-abstraction allows for ambiguity, surprise, and discovery. It invites viewers to pause, reflect, and engage with multiple meanings at once. For me, semi-abstraction offers a way to respond to the complexities of contemporary life. It can challenge assumptions, open new perspectives, and resist the harshest realities of our times by creating space for imagination, resilience, and hope.

Why Three?

My visual practice centers on three interconnected dimensions of life: the spiritual, the environmental, and the social-political. I seek the spiritual in my study of Chicana and Mexica cultural traditions, in my explorations of the natural world, and in interactions with humanity.

These experiences inform every aspect of my work.

Identifying as Chicana is an intentional political, cultural, and spiritual stance. It reflects a commitment to civil rights, environmental stewardship, and a deep connection to ancestry, collective memory, and place. The act of making images grounds me in these traditions of knowledge and meaning-making. I am of this moment, bringing stories of sacred spaces and histories of resistance within America.

As both a civil rights advocate and environmental activist, I examine the relationships between people, culture, and the natural world. These concerns emerge through three ongoing series. Sacred Spaces Series draws inspiration from the landscapes and cultural traditions of the Southwest borderlands and Mexico, particularly Guerrero, where part of my family originates. Flora, fauna, and symbolic imagery become expressions of resilience, endurance, and survival. These evocative landscapes invite reflection, connection, and a heightened awareness of our relationship to the environment.