About

I question concepts that relate to sex, gendered representation, and nudity and aspects of gender-nonconformity and the societal pressures and imposition of masculinity and manhood. It also looks at how the queer body has had to heal and survive aspects of the status quo, impacted by capitalism and worldwide power dynamics. I am interested in the normalized, binary construction of gender, assigned at birth based solely on body parts. My collages/mixed media/paintings deconstruct preconceived and traditional categorizations of gender, pushing the viewer to expand their minds and consider new ones. It requires many hours of work, not only to find the necessary images and build a story with them. The cut-out images that I appropriate and work with are placed in backgrounds to work with my brushes and oil colors. Transparent layers of oil paint are placed one over the other, perfecting the depth effects' lights and shadows.

By appropriating, cutting, pasting, and repainting images from popular culture, I create new narratives in my current practice. The scenes in my collages showcase dialogues between fictional characters, similar to children's stories when they play with dollhouses. Characters perform their sexual and gendered identities for the public in a small, self-contained space resembling a theater, looking for acceptance. They all have something to say. At times, they mutter taboo ideas, gossip, and secrets.