ARTIST STATEMENT
My work bridges my connection to culture through an exploration of my identity as a firstgeneration Mexican American. The early 2000s housing crisis fractured my sense of community, family, and self, as we struggled with housing instability. Like many low-income families, we moved between apartments, rental homes, and staying with others, unable to secure a permanent place of our own. I recall my grandparents' immigration story from Sinaloa, Mexico, to Pasadena, California, in the late 1980s. Their experience mirrors my own struggles with assimilation in the U.S.

I look to estranged family members, fractured communal spaces, and temporary housing for a connection, much like the role of dogs, particularly Chihuahuas, in Mexican folklore. In Mexican tradition, dogs symbolize loyalty, companionship, and protection, often appearing in art and stories as faithful guardians of home and family. Chihuahuas, small but fierce, reflect my own experience of navigating displacement—being small yet resilient in the face of adversity. My paintings incorporate these symbols to convey the role of pets as both companions and symbols of the connection to home, family, and culture.