from https://sandoval.mam.yourcultureconnect.com/e/immigrant-dream-and-nightmare/christina-cardenas-medusa:

I am a “Tapatia de Corazón” born in Guadalajara, Jalisco.

My draftsmanship, iconography, artistic forms, color, and style are derived from Mexican neo-figurative expressionism, which I learned from academic training at the Universidad de Guadalajara, Escuela de Artes Plásticas, in combination with the training I received in the University of Arizona where I earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in printmaking. I am a recipient of grants and fellowships: The Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Award Residency at Claude Monet Museum in Giverny, France; NEA/WESTAF Regional Fellowship for Visual Artists; and Great Walls Unlimited, SPARC, Venice, CA, among others.

Due to my personal history as an immigrant, the recurring theme in my work responds to and communicates relevant political and personal impressions, such as the right for immigrants to have a path to American citizenship. My work is an exploration of immigration/migration and its effects on culture, family, the loss of los ausentes (the ones who left their homelands and are considered missing in their physical absence, but not in their psychological presence,) and the individual in these times of racism. I also represent with images the timeless human phenomena of deconstructing female stereotypes, echoing themes of divided families, struggle, strength, and success. I create from the perspective of a woman artist born “al otro lado” that has now lived and worked in the border region of Tucson, Arizona for over two decades.

From Arts Foundation for Southern Arizona website:

About Cristina Cardenas
Cristina Cárdenas is a painter, printmaker, ceramist based in Arizona for more than 30 years. She has participated in national and international artist residencies . She has won several awards among others NEA/WESTAF, Regional Painting Award, and Hourglass Project in South Africa.
Cárdenas was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Education:
University of Arizona MFA in Printmaking, 1990
Universidad de Guadalajara Escuela de Artes Plasticas, Pintura, 1980
Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores, Architecture courses.