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Could you give us a few words to describe your current situation?

My current situation... okay, I would say aspiring, determined, letting fate drive me but being very inspired and determined!

What was your biggest dream growing up?

Well I wanted to be an actress so I’d always imagine myself as a famous actress living in New York City. I took theater all throughout school and I was just so nervous to audition for any of my high school productions because I knew I wasn’t as invested as the other people yet. My love for acting never stopped, I feel so bad when I focus on something else because I’m like “Am I not chasing my dreams anymore?”, but I’m just realizing that they're just transitioning.

Could you describe your art in 3 words?

Definitely hyper realistic, provocative, and detailed.

How did you start painting?

When I was younger I was always interested in painting. I always had art materials around, painting was for fun. Then I really wasn’t that into it in high school, it was just something I liked to do, I always found painting so satisfying. So, in college I was doing a visual arts major but I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it. I didn’t know if I wanted to do architecture or urban design, I didn’t know what I was doing. Then I took drawing 101 and I was like “Wait I really love painting”. So I took painting 101 and the more time I spent doing it, the better I got. Then my teacher inspired me, she told us how to break into the art industry, what it’s like to be an artist, how to take painting and art seriously. Then you realize that’s a whole job you could do. I don’t know I feel like lately I don’t want to do as much of sitting and recreating a photo like I’ve always done. I want to come up with something, pouring more of my emotions and imagination into it - that’s art that really grasps.

Are there people who inspire your art, like models or muses? Are they people you know or public figures?

I think daily inspiration comes with people I know, like my classmates they’re really inspiring, seeing how everyone pursues their passion and creativity. It makes me want to really pursue that further. I feel like a lot of my work is inspired by Janet Fish. There’s also an artist who lives in New York, Chloe Wise, I love her work. I’m really inspired by the creativity that Harry Style has, that’s why I‘m such a big fan. I love the flamboyance, with Elton John too.

Who are three guests you would invite to a dinner party?

Oh, okay, Harry Styles... Oh, Emma Stone, I love Emma Stone and probably Jennifer Lawrence, those are two great people. I know Jennifer Lawrence has a great point of view on what she wants to put out in the world with her celebrity status, so I think it would be really important to talk to her. And I love Emma Stone she’s so funny.

What would the theme be of the dinner party?

Hmm, okay murder mystery. I would do murder mystery at the disco so everyone is disco too.

What’s your favorite art medium and do you want to explore different art mediums?

I love painting it’s so satisfying, watching other people paint, looking at what other people can create, the skill that people have, that’s what I like to do most. But, I think I really have such an appreciation for film, that’s why I like acting so much. I’ll sit in a movie theater and sometimes you see a movie and it really makes you feel something. Yeah, so I love film and I would love to work more in film. I love to work with my hands though, so I’m always down for painting, sculpting, and the theater too, I think it’s really impressive.

Would you say that you depict and are inspired by one gender more than the other or not?

Hmm, that’s hard. I think I’m very much inspired by women because I know being a woman is such a valuable thing to us and we love it, but I don’t think it’s really gendered. I love the balance of masculinity and femininity.

Do you have inspirations other than people, like places, objects, fashion?

I mean fashion is just so inspiring in itself, I love fashion! It is definitely an inspiration, just seeing Vogue, magazines, runway shows, what people wear in the street, at the Met stuff like that, but i’m really inspired by the Earth itself. I think there’s so much beauty in nature and the Earth, like we come from the Earth we grow from the Earth, I’m very Earth spiritual. I love traveling I think that’s what I’m starting to rank what I value most in life because I think it’s so important to see the Earth and care for it.

Do you think your fashion style and your art are linked?

Hmm, Yeah I do think it could be linked because I think it’s all about your creative mind. So, when I dress myself it’s mostly like what I think I can piece together to make something look really cool and when I paint it’s the same thing, it doesn’t always have to fit what people like. I feel like I don’t paint stuff that is beautiful all the time, it’s just what I think would be a great moment, which is what you do with fashion. I like some preppiness, I like some street style. I like mismatching stuff but I love a good monochromatic look, I love matching colors too. I do have a black and white sock today, I did that on purpose haha. I love a very much androgynous style.

What’s your next art project?

So right now I am having a show in the Spring, I have a few paintings going towards that. What I worked on in the fall is a series called “Cemented: An observation of Humanity” it was very much observing just the cultural and societal habits of humanity through statues. So, I painted a few statues, a few of them are symbolic statements of the treatment of women in past decades, like why does this women have her head cut off or why is just the body left? I want people to look at these statues and wonder how they got to this place and point of time and what habits of humanity created it as the statue that it stands as. In the spring all I did were classical statues and I think I want to transition more into modern statues. I don’t know I’ve been trying to think differently because I want to paint differently too. I don’t want to just copy my pictures anymore. I want to dig into myself creatively. I actually have one photo that you might laugh at that I think I’m gonna paint next.

I was thinking of doing this one because it very much says how icons are taken in society and it is a centerpiece. I built my first canvas yesterday and I’m starting painting this week. It takes me a long while because I’m very detailed. So, I feel like I try to do a painting in about 3 weeks.

Gold statue of Elvis Presley displayed in my mother’s living room

What do you think of technology within art?

Ooh that’s a good question. I think technology is a tool. I think it is here to aid us, it’s not plagiarism if you’re creating with technology, it’s your tool, it’s another medium, you’re using it. I think it can be very useful, you can get really creative. It takes an artistic eye to actually design with technology and utilize it in your creative process.

What made you want to start computer science and when was that?

It was at Fordham, I realized I was getting an art degree and graduating with no money trying to be an artist. So it’s definitely motivated by wanting to get a sustainable job, wanting to sustain myself and having another hustle beside art. In this world we got to make some money, so if I have to do computer science... but it’s also not that I don’t like computer science because as I’ve gotten into the field I’ve really enjoyed it. Computers are such a cool thing and they’re literally our world now. It kind of fascinates me now and I love learning about it. Coding is fun!

Do you ever get imposter syndrome either in art or computer science? If so, is it in one more than the other?

I get imposter syndrome all the time, with both. Sometimes it’ll be more art, less computer science, but once I’ll be applying to jobs, I’ll think “Am I even good enough for that?” and I feel like that will be the imposter syndrome. I feel like I don’t know as much as all these other people because I’m also putting my time towards art, so I’m kind of just learning basics here. Then art I think “Can I really make it as an artist?” like WHAT?! I’m such a believer in manifestation that I think “yes I am an artist!”, “I do have a cool tech job!”. I do get imposter syndrome but I try to get it out of the way because it’ll only stop you.

Now that you’re in New York give us your favorite New York neighborhood, thrift store, and night club?

Ooh I love these questions. Okay the West Village, it’s so nice. For thrift stores I always go to the basic ones in the Lower East Side, which I’m not into anymore but I was in the East village the other day and there were a couple of vintage stores I saw and really liked, I don’t remember the names of course... Oh and for night clubs I’ve definitely been trying to find new places, but I always go back to one cause the music is just so fun and that’s Paul’s Baby Grand. The vibes are always nice, the DJs are nice - the bouncer we don’t talk about... but I like an elevated vibe and a grungy vibe. Paul’s baby Grand is a nice in between and I love how tiny it is, it’s intimate and you can always talk to the people. I really do like that club, but still exploring new ones.

As an artist do you feel like New York is a good city to express yourself?

Most definitely, I think there are so many people, so much opportunity, you never know who you’re gonna meet and everybody has their own sense of creativity so they all can be inspiring. Everybody also has a belief that you can chase your dreams and do what you want. If you want to be an artist, you’re an artist. It’s so helpful to be here because there’s so many people who will actually appreciate the creativity that you have and what you want to make and do.

How do you feel in New York as a student, managing school, work, expenses?

I feel like if you set your mind to something it will happen. If you don’t want spend a lot of money, you won’t spend a lot of money. That being said what you need to spend money on is generally more expensive than in these colleges in small towns. School and work it’s like honestly you see everybody hustle here, you see all the other determination, so it makes you want to be more determined, which is nice. I really like it because it makes you understand what life out of school is, it definitely doesn’t have you prioritize school, it has you prioritize your life after.

Does it ever make you want to live in Arizona?

I appreciate Arizona so much, there’s a lot of places where you can be surrounded by nobody. It takes you out of the hustle and bustle and I love nature, there’s a lot of nature there - I mean desert but it’s still nature. I love it but I know it already. I want to do things, I want to explore the world. So, no I don’t want to go back because I got everything I needed out of it. Not that I don’t love it, but let’s keep going, I’m such an adventurous person, let’s have more of an adventure!

Do you ever see yourself blending both careers into one, art and computer science?

When I see myself after college, having a job, I think I won’t stray away from painting. I want it to be my main art form, I love it so much. I think I’ll be an artist forever but I want to work towards being an artist where I can produce anything like films, paintings. I integrate it to my computer science all the time, like with my user-interface design, that’s design that requires a creative eye. Ooh maybe I’ll do one day a product where I use my technology in my art. I’m not opposed to that.

What are your 2025 resolutions?

Get a job that I know I’m worthy of, like I’ve done degrees, I’ve studied, I know what I can do. Preferably a job in user design. I still want to work in the tech field after college because I’ve worked so hard to get there. I’ve worked so hard to pertain the knowledge that I have.
I want to not stop doing art. I have a goal in 2025 I want to do an apartment show, like put on my own show in my apartment that my friends can come to. I want to apply to an art residency in New York, but we’ll see how that will work with my job.
I want to travel
Maybe I’ll find some love...
Create more, get success I don’t want to stop, I want to keep ascending the goal is an artist. Until that can sustain me fully I want to be in the tech field with a good job.

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