Artist Statement
My work addresses American cultural violence, specifically the violence that inundates our very language and way of being as a society. This violence is visible in the graphic, horrifying images 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 perhaps causes us to emotionally shut down because we feel overwhelmed? And I am always wondering: Who does this benefit? I ask 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 create time intensive hand-embroidered artworks that focus on the ramifications of violence, the very people affected, their grief, and their pain. I do this because I believe that we are not processing these images properly. I hope my work gives the viewer a moment to slow down and really feel what we are seeing and experiencing. In this way I hope my work gives us some of our dignity back.
I use embroidery thread because with each year that I get older and observe humanity it becomes clearer and clearer to me that we are relearning our violent and antagonistic ways. We come into this world with an inherent understanding of empathy for all living beings and a need to share. We are born with a sense of justice that applies to all, and carefully we train ourselves out of this state - perhaps not entirely, and I don't mean to paint a totally dim picture of humanity. However, the violence and hatred that plague humanity derive from old stories and old wounds, like threads, that we carefully stitch together, generation after generation, handing this pain, this enmity, this fear down through the ages, over and over again. This is the symbolism of the thread for me.
More about my work and process can be found in the section Ask Me Anything.
CV
Born: Geneva, Switzerland
Lives: NYC & Austin
EDUCATION
M.F.A. Studio Painting, University of Texas, Austin
B.A. Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley
EXHIBITIONS
2027
Bronx Art Space, group exhibition, (opening Spring 2027 TBA), Bronx, NYC
2026
Arts 14C, group exhibition, Fabric of a Nation", (opening June 2026), Jersey City, NJ
The Norwalk Art Space, "American Voices 250", group exhibition (opening June 2026), Norwalk, CT
Textile Art Center, group exhibition (opening September 2026), Brooklyn, NY
Art League Houston, group exhibition, Houston, TX
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
2024
Texas Biennial 2024, group exhibition, jurors Erika Mei Chua Holum, Ashley DeHoyos Sauder and Coka Treviño, Sawyer Yards, Houston, TX
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
2022
Bronx Art Space, group exhibition, 5 Artists, "Where Do We All Come From?", Bronx, NYC
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
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
2007
Buckwild Gallery, solo exhibition, Los Angeles, CA
2005
Mexic-Arte Museum, group exhibition, Young Latino Artists, Austin, Texas
Lawndale Art Center, solo exhibition,The Project Room, Houston, Texas
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
RESIDENCIES
2026 Arts 14C (Upcoming), Fabric of a Nation, a Special Projects Residency, Jersey City, NJ
2026 The NARS Foundation (Upcoming), Season IV 2026 International Artist Residency Program, Artist in Residence, Brooklyn, NY
2025-2026 The Textile Arts Center (Current), Artist in Residence, Brooklyn, NY
2021 Bronx Art Space, Governors Island Residency, NYC
AWARDS & HONORS
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
PRESS
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"
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
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
