I create sculpture and two-dimensional imagery that allude to invisible human phenomena and is rooted in my medical laboratory studies, i.e., an intersection of bioscience and art. In contrast to surface appearance, an inner beauty, mysticism, interconnectedness, biologic coherence, and dynamism is envisioned. My work refers abstractly to the notion that humans are biologically, chemically, and spiritually wired. In suggesting a human presence, my artworks acknowledge the obvious absence or intangible nature of the forms working and maintaining our living, emotional beings. With a nod to surrealism, I render visible the unseen forces within the body.
Since the focus of my work is ambiguity between our outer selves and inner homeostasis, a common thread is the use of strong contrasts, e.g., light/dark, distortion/reality, presence/absence, image/shadow, consciousness/unconsciousness, exclusion/inclusion, divine/physical, all as related to humanness. My Latina heritage often surfaces with the use of a vivid palette. My processes incorporate collage, sculpture, and mixed media, particularly cyanotype. For my largest body of 2-D work, I use a historic process that is suggestive of a medical environment, the ghosting technique of cyanotype in the tradition of Anna Adkins, a scientist who developed the process for botanical studies. On the other hand, when I work with hard or dense sculptural materials such as stone or bronze, my forms appear soft, undulating, lobular, muscular, or curvilinear. And sometimes, large and small scale cyanotypes are juxtaposed with nearby individual sculptures. Individually or together they create environments of contemplation and strangeness.
In 2012, I completed a Certificate in Fine Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Glassell School of Art. Prior to this, with graduate education, I worked in the Texas Medical Center and later, as a freelance medical writer/editor. My most current art projects (2016-17) focus on showing two- and three-dimensional aspects of an extensive Cyanotype Series. Most recently (May, 2017), a collaborative art and poetry project entitled Space Between was completed. The cumulative works of 11 artists, including one of my cyanotypes & accompanying poem, are to be archived and housed at the Hirsch Library, Museum of Fine Arts Houston. In addition, other 2-and 3-D works were part if a group show in December, 2016, at Williams Tower, Houston, TX, curated by Sally Sprout. And earlier in 2016, a series of small cyanotypes, entitled Vanishing Eggs, a Tribute to My Consumption, was selected to be a part of the Sanchez Art Center 50/50 Show in Pacifica, CA. I also exhibited a large outdoor panel as part of another collaborative project entitled 8 in the Sculpture Garden at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. In 2015, I exhibited a large-scale installation entitled, Inner Landscape. It is a 3-D dreamlike topography, also rooted in biological and molecular imagery. Images are available on this website.
My artwork has been in many other juried and group art shows and auctions (2007-09, 2012-17), at the Glassell School of Art, benefit auctions (San Jose Clinic, Arthritis Foundation, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Faculty Organization, HALO House Foundation, Art on the Avenue, Visual Arts Alliance, etc). I received two art scholarships (2007, 2008), have been chair of art fundraising events (most recently Art with Heart, 2017), and am active in several community art and health care organizations both in Texas and in California. In 2016, I completed a two-year fellowship at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Glassell School Block Program for advanced students.
Since the focus of my work is ambiguity between our outer selves and inner homeostasis, a common thread is the use of strong contrasts, e.g., light/dark, distortion/reality, presence/absence, image/shadow, consciousness/unconsciousness, exclusion/inclusion, divine/physical, all as related to humanness. My Latina heritage often surfaces with the use of a vivid palette. My processes incorporate collage, sculpture, and mixed media, particularly cyanotype. For my largest body of 2-D work, I use a historic process that is suggestive of a medical environment, the ghosting technique of cyanotype in the tradition of Anna Adkins, a scientist who developed the process for botanical studies. On the other hand, when I work with hard or dense sculptural materials such as stone or bronze, my forms appear soft, undulating, lobular, muscular, or curvilinear. And sometimes, large and small scale cyanotypes are juxtaposed with nearby individual sculptures. Individually or together they create environments of contemplation and strangeness.
In 2012, I completed a Certificate in Fine Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Glassell School of Art. Prior to this, with graduate education, I worked in the Texas Medical Center and later, as a freelance medical writer/editor. My most current art projects (2016-17) focus on showing two- and three-dimensional aspects of an extensive Cyanotype Series. Most recently (May, 2017), a collaborative art and poetry project entitled Space Between was completed. The cumulative works of 11 artists, including one of my cyanotypes & accompanying poem, are to be archived and housed at the Hirsch Library, Museum of Fine Arts Houston. In addition, other 2-and 3-D works were part if a group show in December, 2016, at Williams Tower, Houston, TX, curated by Sally Sprout. And earlier in 2016, a series of small cyanotypes, entitled Vanishing Eggs, a Tribute to My Consumption, was selected to be a part of the Sanchez Art Center 50/50 Show in Pacifica, CA. I also exhibited a large outdoor panel as part of another collaborative project entitled 8 in the Sculpture Garden at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. In 2015, I exhibited a large-scale installation entitled, Inner Landscape. It is a 3-D dreamlike topography, also rooted in biological and molecular imagery. Images are available on this website.
My artwork has been in many other juried and group art shows and auctions (2007-09, 2012-17), at the Glassell School of Art, benefit auctions (San Jose Clinic, Arthritis Foundation, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Faculty Organization, HALO House Foundation, Art on the Avenue, Visual Arts Alliance, etc). I received two art scholarships (2007, 2008), have been chair of art fundraising events (most recently Art with Heart, 2017), and am active in several community art and health care organizations both in Texas and in California. In 2016, I completed a two-year fellowship at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Glassell School Block Program for advanced students.