My most recent paintings incorporate mixed media, including indigenous fabrics, duct tape, paper, acrylic paint, wood, and drawing. I pull from my culture, history, and origins to produce three-dimensional paintings that address my tattered relationships with my Guatemalan, Mexican, and American ancestry. Elements of the traditional piñata are deconstructed and incorporated into these works in order to transform the piñata’s original identity as gratuitous celebration into one of cultural construct.

In addition, I incorporate several colloquial idioms found in Chicano/Latinx communities. The texts I incorporate are very authentic terms used in everyday slang and at times can fail literal translation, which acts as a metaphor for society’s misunderstanding of cultures deemed foreign. I also select these terms in the hope of reaching an audience not typically familiar or comfortable with art, as a way of being more inclusive. By utilizing brightly colored fringe, the work also becomes a sentimental offering to our Latinx communities.