My Cuban-Peruvian heritage and, more specifically, my maternal grandparents have greatly shaped my practice. My grandmother was a seamstress and my grandfather a carpenter, which led to my infatuation with both fabric and building materials. In addition, this side of my family exposed me to the vibrant, tropical aesthetic of the Caribbean, a staple of my palette. My paternal ancestry—specifically the rich Peruvian textile tradition—is also one of my primary influences. All these elements combine in my work in a larger endeavor to resolve and synthesize my identity with the contemporary world. Although my materials carry the weight of identity through topics of labor, industry, family, and cultural heritage, my focus is equally on the spontaneous investigation of their formality. The intuitive, site-responsive quality of my work embraces process and materiality explored through an interdisciplinary manner—combining aspects of sculpture/installation, fiber, painting, and fashion/textile design.
I view the resulting chaotic mass of color and material as a type of synthetic landscape. Evoking themes of duality, I create these metaphorical landscapes from symbols of my personal history such as: fibers, chicken-wire, plastic tarps, house paint, and other industrial media. My layering of new and repurposed materials allows me to reactivate previous work and provides a sense of cohabitation between the worn and pristine. Immersed in color, materiality, and mindfulness, I intend to create a playful union between grunge and whimsy, where process is not only evident, but celebrated.