AERA is a New York based multidisciplinary artist who explores sculpture, performance, sound, painting, and writing. Her work exists between play, humor and pain, where modern narratives around identity and belief are ideated, researched, visualized and built into a parallel dimensional plane of contemporary mythology.
Her practice combines unconventional materials—such as glass rhinestones and everyday textiles—to explore the impact of war on childhood, the complexities of gender roles, and the transformative rituals of domestic life.
Central to her work are the themes of gender, sexuality and control, tradition, systems of belief, and technology, war, money and memory, contradictions and messiness. She reflects on how material and body can both hold the potential to have different purposes than what is reflected in their past such as seen with the bodily inflatable piece, Bird of Paradise. This work was crafted from vinyl tablecloths which you would find in a backyard at a child’s birthday party, transformed from familiar domestic objects into forms that evoke sexuality and envelop space.
Her artistic process is rooted in experimentation with both old archival techniques and cutting-edge technologies like nitinol wire and prosthesis. She chooses materials for symbolism. Her piece Communal Beast is made from braided strips of old clothing, a generational technique used here to explore how morals are embedded in the cloth during the process through singing while braiding. The performative transformation of the materials and the form of the work forge new entities that reflect contemporary dogmas and their wonderfully imperfect evolutions.
Her inspirations include Kara Walker for her innovative use of material. In her piece A Subtlety, Walker explores the contradictions of how history is experienced through the lens of sugar and the lives of those forced to produce it. Wangechi Mutu also influences her practice with her sirenic goddess, Water Woman that connect us to both the past and speculative futurism, all while remaining rooted in the earth.
Through her work, she aims to provoke thought and dialogue about the complexities and imperfections of human experience. She wants viewers to engage with intricate relationships between identity, narrative, and societal norms through personal and collective narratives.
In the future, she intends to explore the fusion of biotechnology and 3D printing with ancient folk practices. This exploration aims to create immersive installations that engage viewers on multiple sensory levels, challenging them to reconsider the narratives surrounding identity and heritage in a contemporary context.
CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION
2023 Parsons, New School, New York, NY- MFA
2021 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico - BFA
2011 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM - BUS
2009 Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
2008 Gaia Education, Certificate in Sustainable Urban Design, Albuquerque, NM
Gabor Maté compassionate inquiry certificate, Albuquerque, NM
2007 Curandersimo certificate, Oaxaca, Mexico
Medical Spanish certificate, Oaxaca, Mexico
2001 Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2000 Seattle Central Community College, Seattle, Washington
1999 Documentary Film internship, Subhari Network, Mumbai, India
1998 Scott Baxter, Commercial Photography, Scottsdale, AZ, internship
1997 College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico
EXHIBITION RECORD
2024 Exquisite Corpse, Chicken Coop Collective, Brooklyn, NY
Experimental performance in collaboration with Carolina Muñoza, Grace Exhibition Space, NYC Glass House Spring Open Studios, Glass House Studios, NYC
2023 Thesis Show Aaronson/Keller Gallery Manhattan, NYC, NY
Museum Interaction, SMK Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark
There is Only After, MC Gallery, Manhattan, NYC, NY
2022 ALGO(RYTHM), Tanthem Collective, Manhattan, NYC, NY
First Steps into Fire (Performance), This Flesh is All I have to Offer Group Show, Grace Exhibition Space, New York, NY
Spring 2022 Open Studios, Parsons 25 E 13th Building, NYC, NY
Everything Her You Saw Last Night, Group Show, 25 E 13th Gallery at Parsons, NYC, NY
2021 Sex, Money, Trash - Group Show, 25 E 13th Gallery, Manhattan (NYC), NY
Material as Metaphor, Group Show, 25 E 13th Gallery, New York, NY
Her Strength, Collab with Jodie Herrera and New Mexico United, Albuerque, NM
2020 Covington Rhode Senior Prize Winner Exhibition, Virtual, worldwide & Albuquerque, NM,
Regional winner presentation, Bio Design Challenge International Virtual Exhibit, worldwide
2019 Intersections of Digital and Physical Media Group Show, UNM ArtsLAB, Albuquerque, NM
2018 Urban Abstractions, Solo Show, Ojo Optique, Albuquerque, NM
2012 International Symposium of Electronic Arts (ISEA), Albuquerque Museum with Meow Wolf, Albuquerque, NM
Backseat Driver, solo, The Orpheus, Albuquerque, NM
2011 Arte Nazari, City Invitational Photo Show, Meknes, Morocco
2010 Immigrants in Sports, Group Show, Granada, Spain
2000 De-generated Poetry, Group Show, Seattle Central Community College, Seattle, WA
1998 Solo exhibit, Portraits on Metal, Aztec Cafe, Santa Fe, NM
Emerging photographers of the Southwest, Regional Juried Photography Competition Exhibition, Santa Fe, NM
CURATING
2023 There is Only After, Gallery MC, Manhattan, NYC
2022 Parsons 25 E 13th Gallery Curator Fellowship, The New School, NYC
Everything Her You Saw Last Night, Group Show, 25 E 13th Gallery, (NYC), NY
Trash, Sex, Money, 25 E 13th Gallery, (NYC), NY
2013 Love, Hydra Gallery. Albuquerque, NM
2012 Home, Hydra Gallery. Albuquerque, NM
RESIDENCIES
2024 Italienska Palatset Residency, Vaxjo, Sweden (self directed)
Ovtcharov Art Residency, Novo Selo, Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria (self directed)
AWARDS
2022 Curatorial Fellow for 25 E13th Gallery, Parsons Fine Arts, The New School
2020 Covington Rhode Senior Prize Winner
Winner of New Mexico Chapter of Bio Design Challenge (BDC)
2016 9th International Color Awards Nominee, Tracks, International (Online)
1998 2nd Place Winner, Emerging photographers of the Southwest, Regional Juried Photography Competition Exhibition, Santa Fe, NM
PRESS
2020 KUNM University Showcase with Megan Kamerick, Brillo The Snail, Radio Interview
KRQE Local News, Brillo The Snail, Televised Interview
UNM Newsroom, Brillo The Snail, Print Interview
Daily Lobo (UNM University Paper), Brillo The Snail, Print Interview
ACTIVISM & VOLUNTEERING
2023 Co-founded Banned Book Club for Kids
2016 Babes and Bullies, Pitbull Rescue, Photographer
2012 Crossroads For Women, photo documentary, women in transition out of prison program, Albuquerque, NM
2006-2010 Casa de Salud (formerly Topakahl Clinic), Medical Assistant, Volunteer Organizing and training, Grant Writing, Handbook Writing, Albuquerque, NM
2007 Agencia De Rap, Fundraising and equipment procurement, Volunteering, Training, Havana, Cuba
2006-2009 Hip Hop en Cuba, Fundraising, Party Planning, Materials Supplying, Havana, Cuba/Albuquerque, NM
2006-2008 Kalpulli Izkalli, Volunteering, Book Keeping, Organization of Volunteers, Albuquerque,
ABQ2Cuba, Volunteer Organizing, Materials and Supply Gathering, Fundraising, Party Planning, Resistance and Protest Training, Albuquerque, NM
IFCO/Pastor for Peace, Organizing, Materials and Supply Gathering, Fundraising Volunteering, Albuquerque, NM/Cuba
PUBLICATION AS AUTHOR
2012 “Cuentame Ya- Experiences in Morocco During Arab Spring 2010-2011; the Protesting Frontlines, Child Immigration, and an Exiled Candidate from the Democratic Republic of the Congo” Published online 2012, removed from online for revisions.