I am a queer Chicana woman whose creative practice is shaped by resilience, identity, and a deep reverence for the handmade. For many years, I navigated life as a single parent while working in the corporate world, balancing survival with the quiet urgency of unspoken creativity. At 40, I made the decision to leave that path and return to school, ultimately earning my MFA with honors from the University of Iowa Center for the Book.
My work explores the intersections of memory, language, and the body through the materiality of paper, print, and book forms. I draw from cultural and folkloric influences, reimagining historical narratives that have been fragmented, erased, or mythologized. Influenced by my heritage and lived experience, my practice is personal and political, using the language of craft to reclaim narrative and space.
I am drawn to the intimacy of tactile objects and the stories they carry. My work offers an intimate look into the complexities of paper, not only as an artistic material but as stand-alone art. Through a blend of traditional techniques and experimental processes, I aim to create pieces that hold the complexity of identity, labor, motherhood, and transformation. Each work is an act of reclamation, a gesture toward visibility, and a tribute to the radical power of making.
CV
EDUCATION  
2024 - Master of Fine Arts (MFA) University of Iowa Center for the Book, City, Iowa City, IA  
2022 - Study Abroad: Artists & Artisans in a Traditional Japanese Papermaking Village, Echizen, Japan  
2021 - Bachelor of Arts (BA), Magna Cum Laude, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA  
2019 - Associate of Science (AS), High Honors, Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, MA  

EXPERIENCE & ACTS OF SERVICE  
2025 - Social Media Chair, Mid America Print Council (MAPC) Board Member
           Artist Collective Studio Fellow, Minnesota Center for Book Arts
           Penland School of Craft, Paper Studio Assistant to Gretchen Schermerhorn, NC 
           Pronto Plate Lithography Workshop, Cellar Press, New Ulm, MN 
           Springboard on Ice: Winter Whirl, Springboard for the Arts, Saint Paul, MN
           Juror, Powderhorn Park Art Fair, Minneapolis, MN
           Art of Access Training, Upstream Arts, Minneapolis, MN
2024 - University of Iowa Center for the Book (UICB)   
            Artist Talk: Caution: Monsters Inside, University of Iowa, IA  
            Social Media Liaison, University of Iowa Center for the Book (UICB)  
            Graduate Assistant, Letterpress Studio, University of Iowa Center for the Book  
2023 - University of Iowa Center for the Book (UICB) Instructor of Record, Introduction to Book 
            Arts: Papermaking (Summer Session)  
            Graduate Assistant, Letterpress Studio  
            Social Media Liaison  
            Panel Presentation, NAHP Paper Tides Conference 2023, Providence, RI  
            Organizer, Japanese Papermaking Festival at UICB  
            Penland School of Craft, Summer Session with Akemi Martin, NC 
2022 - University of Iowa Center for the Book (UICB)  
            Graduate Assistant, Papermaking Research Facility, Coralville, IA  
            Artist Talk & Demo: Natural Dyes & Kozo, UI Oakdale Campus, IA  
            Artist Talk & Demo: Nagashizuki, Japanese Papermaking, SGCI Conference, 
            UW-Madison, WI  
            Assistant to Nicholas Cladis, UICB x RISD Winter Workshop, Oakdale Campus, IA  

EXHIBITIONS  
2025 - Kindred Spirits: 30 Years of University of Iowa Center for the Book Alumni Work, K.K. Merker Gallery, IA 
            Fold Art Book + Zine Exhibition, stop-gap projects, Columbia, MO
2024 - Caution: Monsters Inside, K.K. Merker Gallery, IA  
            Cautionary Tales, MFA Thesis Exhibition, University of Iowa, IA  
2023 - Investigations … Curated, Group Show, K.K. Merker Gallery, IA  
            Translation, Translation, Collaborative Zine with Translate Iowa, K.K. Merker Gallery, IA  
            NAHP 8th Collegiate Paper Art Triennial, Cedar Crest College, Evanston Art Center, Morgan Conservatory, Lyndon House  
2022 - IAPMA Bountiful Harvest Exhibition, UI Papermaking Research Gallery, IA  
            Artists and Artisans in a Traditional Papermaking Village, K.K. Merker Gallery, IA  
            MAPC Power of Print Portfolio Exchange, Kent State University, OH  
            NAHP 8th Collegiate Paper Art Triennial, Cedar Crest College, Evanston Art Center, Morgan Conservatory, Lyndon House  
            Indigo: Abstraction of Function, K.K. Merker Gallery, IA  
            Pulp Fiction, Public Space One Pop-Up Exhibit, Iowa City, IA  
2021 - Long Distance Relationship, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, MA  
            Connections, Virtual Exhibit, South Hadley, MA  
            In These Times, Virtual Performance & Art Exhibit, MA  
            Valley Creation Stations Project, Multi-Town Exhibit, MA  
2020 - Boundaries, Mount Holyoke College, Virtual Exhibit, MA  
2019 - Arts Beyond Mount Holyoke, Blanchard Art Gallery, MA  
            Student Art Exhibition, Taber Art Gallery, Holyoke, MA  

HONORS, AWARDS & GRANTS  
2024 - Castagna-Campion Prize for Artistic Excellence, University of Iowa Center for the Book  
2023 - OVPR Research Grants for the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, University of Iowa, Graduate College  
            GSS/Graduate College Presentation Travel/Virtual Conference Funds Award, UIowa  
            UICB Travel Grant, University of Iowa  
            Penland School of Craft Full Tuition Scholarship  
            NAHP Conference Scholarship  
2022 - CAPS Scholarship, University of Iowa Center for Asian and Pacific Studies  
            Ladies Typographic Union Grant  
            Joseph A. Skinner Fellowship Fund, Mount Holyoke College  
2021 - University of Iowa Arts Fellowship, University of Iowa Center for the Book  
            Phyllis Walsh Crocker Memorial Scholarship, Mount Holyoke College  
2019 - Frances Perkins Full Tuition Scholarship, Mount Holyoke College  
            Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, Holyoke Community College  
            Visual Art Faculty Prize, Holyoke Community College  

PUBLISHED & COLLABORATIVE WORK  
2023 - Translation, Translation, Collaborative Zine, Translate Iowa  
A Penland Experience, Hand Papermaking Newsletter, October  
Hyozaki On Deep Blue, Letterpress Printed Poem by Koike Masayo  
2022 - The Echizen Papermaking Region of Japan, Hand Papermaking Newsletter, October 



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