I have always felt torn between two cultures - the suburban middle-class objectivity of my American birth, and the passionate sensitivity of my Latino heritage. I am of direct Puerto Rican decent, though born in the Mid-West. Although there are still a few relatives in Puerto Rico, my regular contacts are more often with stateside kin. Most of my life has been spent in middle-class America; the suburbs are my barrio, and English is my primary language. My journey has been a look back at why I was once culturally shy of my own ethnicity, and how I have since grown into the legacy of my family.  

My use of bright color, rhythmic patterning and expressive figurative imagery, often combined with mixed media, provides an opportunity to look back into family history while looking forward through new events and individuals with whom I come into contact. Ongoing studio developments in printmaking, often including bilingual text, offer a visual format that seeks to communicate to a broader, bilingual audience. 

The visual arts have long been a significant part of Latino culture, providing a visible means of expressing the legacy of our Spanish, Taino and African forebears. My studio time has been spent in developing a bi-visual means of communicating to both cultures through my artwork while navigating a balance between these two worlds. The works are hybrids; they combine elements of mainstream America and exotic Hispania. Through these works, I reach out to my Latino heritage in a concerted effort to expand and enrich my mainstream identity.