˚ ༘⋅Artist Statement⋅ ༘˚

My practice is a layering and assembly of images, objects, text, graphics, histories and time. Utilizing the process of image transfer on Café Bustelo coffee packaging, a well-known and celebrated coffee brand in the Bronx, I create collages, paintings and installations that incorporate images of myself, my family, nature and hand-drawn illustrations inspired by domestic patterns found in my grandparent’s home. My work is deeply rooted in the ideology that our histories hold both value and power. I am interested in the innate way familial and communal histories are connected to larger ancestral legacies. Tying my family images to temporally and culturally specific items, I transform them into ancestral icons worthy of recognition and respect free from tragic, hopeless narratives. By honoring and giving representation to these histories, I also hope to honor my ancestors whose own histories were lost and erased due to genocide, colonization and forced migration.

The beginnings of my practice began with the discovery that I was named after my grandfather, Catarino, who passed before I was born. This discovery opened a wave of curiosity and obsession to learn more about this male ancestor whose legacy I carried unknowingly through most of my life. Since then, I have begun uncovering, documenting and archiving my family’s histories and the journey of their lives to America.