I am made up of the people before me, I am the result of two South American cultures, Ecuador and Guatemala, melted together in the chicago suburbs. My work is about the feelings of nostalgia, childhood and my latina american culture. I use 2d and 3d mediums, including pastels, plaster and crochet all in vibrant colors that preserve my culture and family traditions. I incorporate 2D and 3D mediums such as pastels, plasters and crocheting in vibrant colors to preserve the work my mother taught me, and fond memories that I continue to carry. For example, my plaster empanadas draw from said memories through sound, the bells placed inside of each sculpture represent the loose change in my mother’s purse, or the nails from father’s tool box I would squirrel away to play with as a child. The crocheted yarn, embroidery and knitting is something that was taught to me by my mother, and is something she in turn had to learn through her Guatemalan school. In my 2D medium, chalk pastel drawings, commemorate the passage of time. Additionally, through their college backgrounds that took months to develop and the inclusion of ticket stubs, receipts, postcards from places I visited and pressed flowers picked during road trips with friends. My work is a glimpse into my personality, and the world I grew up in as a latina child. It highlights the blurry lines and personal struggles I’ve been through as well as the colorful times that can clash and meld as my American identity and Latino culture evolve with me.