About Me
I was born and raised in Salinas, California, and I'm the youngest of five children with four older brothers. When I was three years old, I began learning hip-hop and participating in pageants. When I was five, I began acting and modeling with my youngest brother, and transitioned from hip-hop to ballet and tap. I also began cheering for Pop Warner’s Salinas Cardinals and Riptide All-Stars. When I was six years old, I began participating in theater productions, my first being Really Rosie, and my first feature film titled Licks. I continued to participate in High school and competitive cheer, while also participating in my middle school's first drumline, where I played the quads and snare drum.
I began attending the University of the Pacific in 2020, and am currently pursuing my BA in Graphic Design and minoring in Studio Art. I have been studying Graphic Design for four years and anticipate graduating in Spring 2024.
Design Philosophy
My work is mainly influenced by the Conceptualism movement from the 1960s and the Symbolism art movement from the late 19th century. This is because most of my art is centered around the ideas behind it that I want to portray visually. In my work, it's fairly easy to tell what the main concept is from first glance, but the deeper you look, and the more you think about it, the work will show other aspects that have a deeper meaning. Each piece of art has a straightforward message, but also has aspects that symbolize something else to help strengthen that message. For example, in my Drunk Driving Prevention campaign, the concept is centered around getting people to not drink and drive, which is evident from the various headlines along with the text, ‘Don’t Drink and Drive’. However, each of the four pieces contains sharp, jagged lines where the vehicle related item meets the alcohol, symbolizing the friction and danger of the mix between the two. Each piece also contains the color red, primarily in the text, to symbolize the danger of driving while under the influence.
I’m most interested in the mix of markers and colored pencils when creating art. I like the way you can color the entire image using the marker as a base, and then go over it with the colored pencils for shading and extra detail. Using this method cuts down on the time it takes to color a piece of work, as well as producing better results. Another thing I like about it is the fact that you don’t have to do extreme burnishing with the colored pencils in order to remove the base color of the paper, since the marker already does a good job of doing that. This helps save your colored pencils and lets them last longer.
Most, if not all, of my work is based on my own experiences in life and from growing up. Different aspects of my childhood, family, and general preferences always end up in my artwork in some form, whether it be through the colors I use, or the content of the work. For example, one of the book cover redesigns I did was for The Chronicles of Narnia, which was a book my mom read to me and my brothers everynight before bed when I was little. Another example is the restaurant menu I designed, which came about because I like cooking and baking, and learning different recipes to make for my family was one of my favorite things to do as a kid. Further examples of this include red being one of my favorite colors and my love of animals, both tending to find their way into a lot of my art and designs.
The biggest issue I want to address in my work are the dangers of drinking and driving, as well as the impact it can have on the offender, the victim, and the families of both. This is something I want to address because I’ve been affected by this issue, and I want to be able to spread proper awareness through something other than numbers and statistics. This issue is something that everyone knows about, yet still remains a prevalent issue in society. Currently I’ve made two art pieces addressing this issue, one being a stand-alone piece, and the other being a campaign addressing the issue.
