Born in San Diego, California, I am a multidisciplinary artist, cultural worker, and cofounder of the Crenshaw Dairy Mart in Inglewood, California. I was raised in a working class, first generation, Mexican family, where labor was not abstract; it was everyday, embodied, and inherited. This embodied commitment and spirit lives in my art, where I explore through sculpture, ceramic, painting, drawing, printmaking, video, performance, and archival research ways to illuminate the poetics and politics of work, what I refer to as the Poetics of Labor. 

My work for over a decade has been a meditation and deep understanding of the relationship between labor, lineage, and liberation. This allows me to approach the invisibility of labor with community members through art and collaboration, while touching on the circuit of labor between Southern California and the US-Mexico border. My practice is a reminder that creativity is not separate from community, and that art can be a form of spiritual repair and an act of healing. 

Honoring those that have come before me, my work continues in the Chicanx spirit of rasquachismo, which questions traditional divisions between the aesthetic and utilitarian. Rasquachismo embodies the spirit of change and renewal. I am inspired by artists working in this field as well as Black assemblage, arte povera, the readymade, and social sculpture. Within these artistic and social movements, I connect culture and spirit to reshape materials and generate new meanings. In this light, I see myself as a storyteller of the past, present, and future.

Photo courtesy of Elon Schoenholz

CV available upon request.