My work is about American cultural violence, specifically the violence that inundates our very language and way of being as a society, and can be seen in the graphic, horrifying images that we encounter daily on our phones: images of gun violence, immigration, cruel deportation, mass shootings, forced disappearance and more. I wonder if this constant barrage of imagery is perhaps causing us to emotionally shut down because we feel overwhelmed? And I am always wondering, who does this benefit? I am asking in my work: Are we feeling these things? What is it doing to us? Why aren't we acting collectively to address the violence we see every day on our devices? To tackle these questions I make time intensive hand-embroidered artworks that focus on the ramifications of violence, the very people affected, their grief, their pain. I do this because I believe that we are not processing these images properly. If we were, we wouldn't have year after year of mass shootings, of children gunning each other down with assault rifles in school, of scared desperate people pouring across our borders from the pain we have inflicted upon them in their countries and now, of the horrors of a gestapo state (ICE) terrorizing our cities and lives. If we truly collectively felt these things we would not tolerate it, because I believe that the greatest human "power" is empathy. When humans feel deep empathy, I believe it is far more powerful than anything else, even anger and fear. I hope my work gives the viewer a moment to slow down and feel what we are seeing and experiencing.
To be clear, I am not a conceptual artist. I want my work to directly address and confront power by being viscerally upsetting, with little or no layers of interpretation or explanation. I want it to be as clear as the pain it depicts. I am addressing a "first world" / "global north" (not terms I like) audience directly. I want us, in these places, to question our complicity in American violence both at home and around the world. I want us to feel and heal, as they say, but I also want us to walk away and find ways to activate our collective power, to feel more empowered to do so, not less. I do not view my work as the solution. I want my work to activate solutions. I do not want my work to be the cocktail party discussion that makes us feel better. I want it to make us feel worse so that we want to get better and fix our society.
CV
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Born: Geneva, Switzerland
Currently lives: NYC
EDUCATION
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M.F.A. Studio Painting, University of Texas, Austin
B.A. Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley
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EXHIBITIONS​
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2027​​
Bronx Art Space, group exhibition, (opening Spring 2027 TBA), Bronx, NYC
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2026​​
Textile Art Center, group exhibition (opening September 2026), Brooklyn, NY​
Art League Houston, group exhibition, Houston, TX
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2025​
Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (Craft House Houston), Craft Texas 2025, curated by Abraham Thomas, the Daniel Brodsky Curator for Modern Architecture, Design and Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, group exhibition, Houston, TX
Box 13 ArtSpace, solo exhibition, Houston, TX​​
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2024
Texas Biennial 2024, group exhibition, jurors Erika Mei Chua Holum, Ashley DeHoyos Sauder and Coka Treviño, Sawyer Yards, Houston, TX
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2023
La Mecha Contemporary, group exhibition, "A Fine Line", El Paso, Texas
Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, solo exhibition, Brownsville, Texas
Mexic-Arte Museum, group exhibition, Alimento para el Alma / Food for the Soul, Austin, Texas
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2022
Bronx Art Space, group exhibition, 5 Artists, "Where Do We All Come From?", Bronx, NYC
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2021
The Border Gallery, group exhibition, Border Walls IV, Brooklyn, NY
BronxArtSpace, Residency Exhibition, Governors Island, NY
DorDor Gallery, group exhibition, Brooklyn, NY
Shrine Gallery, group exhibition, NY, NY
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2020
MOCA Long Island, Night Visions Gallery MOCA L.I.ghts, group exhibition, Patchogue, LI, NY
The Urban Collective & Nasty Women, group exhibition, Rituals of Resistance, New Haven, CT
Field Projects Gallery, group exhibition, Hoarders House, NY, NY
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2007
Buckwild Gallery, solo exhibition, Los Angeles, CA
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2005
Mexic-Arte Museum, group exhibition, Young Latino Artists, Austin, Texas
Lawndale Art Center, solo exhibition,The Project Room, Houston, Texas
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2002
Jones Contemporary, group exhibition, New American Talent, curated by Jerry Saltz, Austin, TX
Austin Museum of Art, group exhibition, 22 to Watch, New Art in Austin, Austin, TX
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RESIDENCIES
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(Current) September 2025 - June 2026, Textile Art Center, Artist in Residence, Brooklyn, NY
2021 Bronx Art Space Governors Island Residency, NYC
AWARDS & HONORS
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2021 Top Ten Studio Picks by NY & LA based curator & writer Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy, Gowanus Open Studios
1999 Minority Fellowship Award, University of Texas Austin
1997 Merit Award, University of Texas Austin
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PRESS
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2026
Textile Arts Center Blog, Featured Artist in Residence, March 2026
2025
Glasstire, Craft Texas 2025, August issue
MelissaRichardsonBanks.com, Craft Texas 2025, August issue
Glasstire, Mateo Gutiérrez: It's the End of the World As We Know It, February issue
Art With Altitude, "The Tactile Rebellion", featured artist, Winter issue
2024
Glasstire, The Last Sky: Thermals and Thresholds, December issue
Glasstire, Big Medium Announces 2024 Texas Biennial Artists, group exhibition write up, September issue
2023
Glasstire, La Mecha Contemporary, group exhibition write up, August issue
Brownsville Valley Central 23 Channel 4 and Danielle Banda "Valley Por La Vida", TV interview
Glasstire, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art solo exhibition write up, May issue
2022
The Magic Spark Podcast, featured guest, "The Wound of Worthiness & Belonging: Artist Interview"
New American Painting, featured artist, Issue #152 “Northeast”
2021
Hyperallergic, "Your Guide to Explore the Unfamiliar at Gowanus Open Studios"
Mott Haven Herald, "Five Bronx Artists Chosen for Governors Island Residency"
2020
Hyperallergic, “A View From the Easel During Times of Quarantine”
Hartford Courant, “Rituals of Resistance”
Arts Council Greater New Haven, “In Year Four, Nasty Women Returns To Its Roots”
2000
Austin American Statesman, "22 to Watch"
Austin Chronicle, "Behind the Storage Unit Door"
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PUBLIC SPEAKING​
February 2026: Artist Talk and Q&A, Fordham University at Lincoln Center, New York, NY
January 2026: Artist Talk and Q&A, Art League Houston, Houston, TX
April 2025: Artist Talk, Night of Ideas, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
March 2025: Artist Talk and Q&A, Center for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean, York University, Toronto, CAN
March 2025: Artist Talk and Q&A, University of Guelph, Toronto, Canada
February 2024: TED Talk at Texas State University
May 2023: Solo-exhibition Artist Talk and Q&A at Brownsville Museum of Fine Art​
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TEACHING ​
​​2023-2025: Texas State University Department of Art, San Marcos, Texas, Studio Art Lecturer in Art Foundations
2024: Volunteer Youth Art Instructor, Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, Austin, Texas
1996-1999: University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, Transmedia Teaching Assistant
