I have worked in figurative art methods for the last twenty-four years. I grew up working in farm fields, so I find clay to be like keeping my hands in the earth as I did as a child. My figure work is based on current political issues in the United States, especially immigration. My mask work is based on Dia de los Muertos traditions I grew up with.
In the Spotlight is a series about the night crossings and spotlights being lit on people by the border patrol. This gives a human face to the experiences of crossing the border. Desaparacidos is a series about the immigrants who die on the border and disappear and the spirit is the only remnant.
Gente Not Numbers is a series I started in 2004 after an invitation to make work for a show dealing with sense of place. The series is of farm workers with false social security numbers on their chests or in hidden locations on the body. Workers are not just numbers you can replace, but also the experiences of being and interacting with the worker. The clothing is based on actual examples from my time as a field laborer and being part of a family of laborers.
Disappearing Stories is a new series based on the Gente Not Numbers series. It is about stories disappearing as oral tradition ends, similar to finding an old photograph, but not knowing who it is. The person’s voice is lost in history.
The Calaveras are like sketches. I make skull masks and test different surfaces and firing treatments. Each one is unique with different textures, eye socket shapes and individually made. Some are fired multiple times, others only once.
In the Spotlight is a series about the night crossings and spotlights being lit on people by the border patrol. This gives a human face to the experiences of crossing the border. Desaparacidos is a series about the immigrants who die on the border and disappear and the spirit is the only remnant.
Gente Not Numbers is a series I started in 2004 after an invitation to make work for a show dealing with sense of place. The series is of farm workers with false social security numbers on their chests or in hidden locations on the body. Workers are not just numbers you can replace, but also the experiences of being and interacting with the worker. The clothing is based on actual examples from my time as a field laborer and being part of a family of laborers.
Disappearing Stories is a new series based on the Gente Not Numbers series. It is about stories disappearing as oral tradition ends, similar to finding an old photograph, but not knowing who it is. The person’s voice is lost in history.
The Calaveras are like sketches. I make skull masks and test different surfaces and firing treatments. Each one is unique with different textures, eye socket shapes and individually made. Some are fired multiple times, others only once.
Selected Exhibition Record
Solo Exhibitions:
2020 Calaveras and Gente, Brazosport College, Lake Jackson, Texas
2012 Milagros y Muerte, Western Nevada College, Carson City, Nevada
2010 Miracles, People, and Monsters, Northwest Gallery, Northwest College, Powell, Wyoming
2009 Myths, Miracles, and Miscellaneous Debris: 5 years in Yuma, Yuma Fine Arts Center, Yuma, Arizona
Invitational Exhibitions:
2021 Diversity in Clay, Brackers Good Earth Clays, Lawrence, Kansas
2019 10x10 Exhibition, Tohono Chul gallery, Tucson, Arizona
2018 12th Annual South Texas Ceramic Showdown, South Texas College, McAllen, Texas
2016 Estamos Aquí: Voces Contemporáneas, We Are Here: Contemporary Voices, Nashville Public Library Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee, Curators: Jairo and Susan Prado. (catalog)
2015 Fruto Latino VI, Casa HoLa and Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, Tennessee
Bittersweet Harvest, Rose Center, Morristown, Tennessee
2014 Dia de Los Muertos, Casa HoLa, Knoxville, Tennessee
Fruto Latino V, Casa HoLa and Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, Tennessee
Bittersweet Harvest, Casa HoLa, Knoxville, Tennessee
2013 Dia de Los Muertos meets Halloween, Casa HoLa, Knoxville, Tennessee
2009 For Artists, By Artists; 30th anniversary Yuma Symposium exhibition, Yuma Art Center, Yuma, Arizona
2008 In Retrospect, Yuma Art Center, Yuma, Arizona
2007 Sister Cities: Testing Boundaries: Art and Artisans Along the U.S. - Mexico Border Contemporary Crossroads, El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Texas
Juried Exhibitions:
2021 All Art Arizona, Art Intersection Gallery, Gilbert, Arizona
2021 KC Clay Guild Teabowl National, Kansas City Clay Guild, Kansas City, Missouri. Juror: Erica Iman
Clay National XV: The Narrative Figure, Carbondale Clay Center, Carbondale, Colorado. Jurors: Kyle & Kelly Phelps
From the Ground Up XXX, Las Cruces Museum of Art, Las Cruces, New Mexico. Juror: Joshua Clark
Silent Stories, We Are Not Nvsble, https://www.wearentinvisible.org/
2020 All Art Arizona, Art Intersection Gallery, Gilbert, Arizona
2019 All Art Arizona, Art Intersection Gallery, Gilbert, Arizona
Undocumented Stories: Unfiltered, Chicano Art Gallery, San Diego, California
2018 Sonoran Stories, Tohono Chul gallery, Tucson, Arizona
All Art Arizona, Art Intersection Gallery, Gilbert, Arizona
Figurative Art Exhibit, Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery, www.lightspacetime.art
2017 Demographically Speaking, A Figurative Exhibition, Lexington Art League, Lexington, Kentucky. Juror: Daniel Pfalzgraf.
2014 Biennial Cup Show, Morean Center for Clay, St. Petersburg, Florida
Juror: Matt Schiemann
2012 25th National Juried Art Exhibit, South Cobb Arts Alliance, Mableton, Georgia
Juror: Kristen Miller Zohn, (catalog)
Juried Art Tile Show, Silver City, New Mexico
Juror: Alfredo Rantinoff
2011 Social Justice, National Juried Show, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore Maryland
Jurors: Kyle and Kelly Phelps
2009 From the Ground Up XXIV, Las Cruces Museum of Art, Las Cruces, New Mexico
Analogous: National Juried Show, Eastern New Mexico University Runnels Gallery, Portales, New Mexico
Juror: Lucy Lippard, (catalog)
2008 Reforming U.S.: Immigration Through Art, Loyola University Crown Center Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2007 Clay Applied Art vs. Fine Art?, Gloria Kennedy Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
2006 Crossing Borders: 14th Annual International Juried Exhibition, Laredo Center for the Arts, Laredo, Texas, (catalog),
19th National Juried Art Exhibit, South Cobb Arts Alliance, Mableton, Georgia
Juror: Marcia Goldenstein, (catalog)
By the Hand: A National Juried Exhibition of Traditional and Innovative Craft, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, California
Jurors: Suzanne Balzerman & Jo Lauria
2005 Crossing Borders: 13th Annual International Juried Exhibition, Laredo Center for the Arts, Laredo, Texas (catalog)
2004 17th National Juried Art Exhibition, South Cobb Arts Alliance/ Mable House Cultural Center, Mableton, Georgia, Juror: Gregor Turk, (catalog)
Gigantic: Ceramic Figurines, Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, Washington, Juror: Patti Warashina
2003 Figureheads, Artempresa Gallery, Cordoba, Argentina
16th National Juried Art Exhibition, South Cobb Arts Alliance/ Mable House Cultural Center, Mableton, Georgia
Juror: Larry Walker, (catalog)
Ana 32: A National Juried Exhibition, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, Montana, Juror: Richard Notkin
Solo Exhibitions:
2020 Calaveras and Gente, Brazosport College, Lake Jackson, Texas
2012 Milagros y Muerte, Western Nevada College, Carson City, Nevada
2010 Miracles, People, and Monsters, Northwest Gallery, Northwest College, Powell, Wyoming
2009 Myths, Miracles, and Miscellaneous Debris: 5 years in Yuma, Yuma Fine Arts Center, Yuma, Arizona
Invitational Exhibitions:
2021 Diversity in Clay, Brackers Good Earth Clays, Lawrence, Kansas
2019 10x10 Exhibition, Tohono Chul gallery, Tucson, Arizona
2018 12th Annual South Texas Ceramic Showdown, South Texas College, McAllen, Texas
2016 Estamos Aquí: Voces Contemporáneas, We Are Here: Contemporary Voices, Nashville Public Library Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee, Curators: Jairo and Susan Prado. (catalog)
2015 Fruto Latino VI, Casa HoLa and Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, Tennessee
Bittersweet Harvest, Rose Center, Morristown, Tennessee
2014 Dia de Los Muertos, Casa HoLa, Knoxville, Tennessee
Fruto Latino V, Casa HoLa and Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, Tennessee
Bittersweet Harvest, Casa HoLa, Knoxville, Tennessee
2013 Dia de Los Muertos meets Halloween, Casa HoLa, Knoxville, Tennessee
2009 For Artists, By Artists; 30th anniversary Yuma Symposium exhibition, Yuma Art Center, Yuma, Arizona
2008 In Retrospect, Yuma Art Center, Yuma, Arizona
2007 Sister Cities: Testing Boundaries: Art and Artisans Along the U.S. - Mexico Border Contemporary Crossroads, El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Texas
Juried Exhibitions:
2021 All Art Arizona, Art Intersection Gallery, Gilbert, Arizona
2021 KC Clay Guild Teabowl National, Kansas City Clay Guild, Kansas City, Missouri. Juror: Erica Iman
Clay National XV: The Narrative Figure, Carbondale Clay Center, Carbondale, Colorado. Jurors: Kyle & Kelly Phelps
From the Ground Up XXX, Las Cruces Museum of Art, Las Cruces, New Mexico. Juror: Joshua Clark
Silent Stories, We Are Not Nvsble, https://www.wearentinvisible.org/
2020 All Art Arizona, Art Intersection Gallery, Gilbert, Arizona
2019 All Art Arizona, Art Intersection Gallery, Gilbert, Arizona
Undocumented Stories: Unfiltered, Chicano Art Gallery, San Diego, California
2018 Sonoran Stories, Tohono Chul gallery, Tucson, Arizona
All Art Arizona, Art Intersection Gallery, Gilbert, Arizona
Figurative Art Exhibit, Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery, www.lightspacetime.art
2017 Demographically Speaking, A Figurative Exhibition, Lexington Art League, Lexington, Kentucky. Juror: Daniel Pfalzgraf.
2014 Biennial Cup Show, Morean Center for Clay, St. Petersburg, Florida
Juror: Matt Schiemann
2012 25th National Juried Art Exhibit, South Cobb Arts Alliance, Mableton, Georgia
Juror: Kristen Miller Zohn, (catalog)
Juried Art Tile Show, Silver City, New Mexico
Juror: Alfredo Rantinoff
2011 Social Justice, National Juried Show, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore Maryland
Jurors: Kyle and Kelly Phelps
2009 From the Ground Up XXIV, Las Cruces Museum of Art, Las Cruces, New Mexico
Analogous: National Juried Show, Eastern New Mexico University Runnels Gallery, Portales, New Mexico
Juror: Lucy Lippard, (catalog)
2008 Reforming U.S.: Immigration Through Art, Loyola University Crown Center Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2007 Clay Applied Art vs. Fine Art?, Gloria Kennedy Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
2006 Crossing Borders: 14th Annual International Juried Exhibition, Laredo Center for the Arts, Laredo, Texas, (catalog),
19th National Juried Art Exhibit, South Cobb Arts Alliance, Mableton, Georgia
Juror: Marcia Goldenstein, (catalog)
By the Hand: A National Juried Exhibition of Traditional and Innovative Craft, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, California
Jurors: Suzanne Balzerman & Jo Lauria
2005 Crossing Borders: 13th Annual International Juried Exhibition, Laredo Center for the Arts, Laredo, Texas (catalog)
2004 17th National Juried Art Exhibition, South Cobb Arts Alliance/ Mable House Cultural Center, Mableton, Georgia, Juror: Gregor Turk, (catalog)
Gigantic: Ceramic Figurines, Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, Washington, Juror: Patti Warashina
2003 Figureheads, Artempresa Gallery, Cordoba, Argentina
16th National Juried Art Exhibition, South Cobb Arts Alliance/ Mable House Cultural Center, Mableton, Georgia
Juror: Larry Walker, (catalog)
Ana 32: A National Juried Exhibition, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, Montana, Juror: Richard Notkin