BIO
I grew up in a low-income, single parent household. By age eleven I was helping to raise my baby sister, which is where I discovered my passion for photography —her birth could be considered my first photographic series. While studying analog photography throughout high school and community college, I found a sense of kinship in the works of Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman, and Joel-Peter Witkin. Taking a keen interest in documenting real people in real situations, I started to use photography as a way of processing difficult emotions. This led to The Cancer Series (2006), a photography project that documented my mother’s visits to the oncologist for chemotherapy and radiation treatment. I tried to resume my studies after my mother's passing in 2008, however, the burdens I inherited were too difficult to juggle and study. Little did I know, I would not return to school for over a decade.
Diary of Flowers: Artists and their Worlds,
Nan Goldin gallery, MOCA Los Angeles, 2025.
Photo courtesy of Trisha Quintero
From 2010 to 2016 I lived and worked in Colorado and Oregon for a professional printing company. This experience allowed me to develop skills in digital marketing and graphic design, and it instilled in me a deep love for paper and printing. In 2017 I returned to California to care for my grandfather. During this time I craved a creative outlet, which inspired the launch of Hail Yourself! Metalzine. The magazine was a community-driven project geared toward diversifying the musical acts that performed in San Luis Obispo, California. Thanks to a tremendous amount of hard work by many —namely, Steve Jenkins (graphic designer) and Patrick Spain (live sound engineer), the magazine achieved more than what it set out to do. Hail Yourself! Metalzine helped organize over twenty live concerts and a two-day music festival. For a short time, it also established distribution in Canada, Finland, and Norway. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic brought a swift end to everything, including the local music venues we worked alongside.
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In the midst of the pandemic my grandfather also passed away, which left me at a crossroads. I decided it was time to resume my educational journey. Since then I have relocated to New England and earned my BFA in Art & Design (cum laude). I have also gained an invigorated sense of where I can make a difference on this planet. Drawing inspiration from my mother and grandfather, my BFA thesis was a photo-documentary series titled ALL AGES; it facilitated intergenerational communication and raised awareness of the prevalence of age discrimination. My personal projects continue to explore difficult emotions; social issues that are important to me such as childhood trauma and gender dysphoria. I have experienced enough bad things to recognize exactly where my most fulfilling years have been spent: they revolve around art, community-building, and higher education. This is where I have always fit in.
CV
Education
2023 - 2025
BFA, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
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2005 - 2009 / 2021 - 2023
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
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​​Honors​
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2025​
- Commonwealth Honors College Creative Activity Grant, $900
- UMass Honorarium, the "Wall @ SAB," $200
- "La Petite Mort," Twenty-First ArtsWorcester Biennial, Honorable Mention
- Annaliese Bischoff Honors Scholarship, $1,000
- HFA Dean's Undergraduate Scholarship & Research Fund, $1,000
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2024
- "Choice," Robert & Nancy Gordon Scholarship in Fine Arts, $4,000
- Henry & Jean Hall HFA Scholarship, $1,400
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​Commissions​​
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2025
- "Sea to Sky," Regenerating the Commons, IASC Conference, $1,000
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​Curatorial​​​​​
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2025
- Illusions of Certainty, Student Union Gallery, Amherst, MA
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​Film Festivals​​
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2025
- "Weeds," UMass Animated Film Festival, Amherst, MA
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2024​​
- "Road Kill," UMass Animated Film Festival, Amherst, MA
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​Solo Exhibitions​​
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2025
- All Ages, Student Union Art Gallery, Amherst, MA
- "Material Surrealism #1," UMass Wall @ SAB, Amherst, MA
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Group Exhibitions​​​​​
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​2025
- "Replica #5.4.86," Staying with the Trouble, Eli Marsh Gallery, Amherst, MA
- "Rebel Yell(ow)," Small Works, ArtsWorcester, Worcester, MA
- "La Petite Mort," UMass Senior Awards & Exhibition, Amherst, MA
- "La Petite Mort," Twenty-First ArtsWorcester Biennial, Worcester, MA
- "La Petite Mort," OPTIC, Hampden Gallery, Amherst, MA
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2024
- "Choice," Stay, Awaken, and Make Whole, Herter Gallery, Amherst, MA
- "Choice," UMass Senior Art Awards & Exhibition, Amherst, MA
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2022
- "Monochromatic," College Art Exhibition, Harold J. Miossi Art Gallery, San Luis Obispo, CA
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Performances
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2025
- The Juniper Tree, UMass Department of Art, Amherst, MA
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Volunteer
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2025
- Talent Scout, Hampshire Mall Project, Hadley, MA
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2024
- Trail Guide, Northeast Dungeon Siege, Worcester, MA
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2023
- Guest Artist, Bangs Community Center, Amherst, MA
- Artist Liaison, Northeast Dungeon Siege, Worcester, MA
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2019
- Fundraiser Organizer, 40 Prado Homeless Shelter, San Luis Obispo, CA