I was born on Columbus Day in New York City in 1968 with all the implications that that entails for a Puerto Rican woman grappling with American history. Through the new surrealist genre, I’m able to tell a story of global upheaval within the natural world. Juxtaposing images is an integral part of my work. I aim to catch the viewer off guard and have them rethink what it is they are seeing and why. Through paintings, drawings & mixed media I confront individual, political, and collective disconnection. I create socio-political art that is political and personal, graphic, and poetic. I received scholarships to attend the National Academy of Design School of Fine Arts where I studied under Sharon Sprung, and studied at the Art Students League and The School of Visual Arts, NYC. I’ve taught at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Wagner College in New York.

My work confronts societal norms and the cultural inequities that inform who we are—and how these transform our view of the world around us. My figurative paintings are characterized by a dark, graphic sensibility. I'm an instinctive subversive. I build up a dialogue with paint and uncover images that surface. The intense color, versatility and permanence of oil paint make it a perfect fit for what I need to say. I start a work of art differently almost every time. I begin with an idea or an image, and it can come from anywhere - a book, a lover, an ad, an intense feeling that won't go away. It can be a need to right a wrong or flesh out a moment in history and express feelings of trauma, but there's always a point of view to uncover. I work towards controlled chaos, adding as many layers as I sometimes scrape away. I'm discerning, but not judgmental with my work. I consider it finished when I can feel it breathe and it asks more questions than it answers. Within all my works I enjoy hiding messages in plain sight and challenging the validity of the status quo. It isn't enough for me to make a pretty picture— it has to say something too. The ultimate goal is becoming transparent to transcendence. When you look at my work you see through it an emotion that you can relate to or identify with. It's this transformative experience that I work to give back to the viewer.