PAINTINGS
KNOW WHO I AM
2026
$1,750
Oil and charcoal on canvas
This piece calls upon a daughter’s fear of her father developing a terminal illness. However, the pain can be related to through many different walks of life and relationships. Texture, proportion and perspective distortion, symbolism, and color choice were combined to create the composition of this piece. I utalized these techniques to convey memory loss, loss of identity, grief, family, and childhood.
2025
$1,500
Oil and charcoal on canvas
Exploring the relation between memory and grief and the unfortunate reality that the more time that passes since you last see a person, the less concrete their existence becomes. The figure (nondescript, communicating relatability to the audience) exists within a perspectively incorrect world. The paint application consumes them, having thick layers exist within areas closest to the viewer while simultaneously in places that are supposed to be receding from the viewer even though that contradicts traditional application methods. Horses are etched with charcoal sticks in a mythical style, evoking the feeling of childhood in a way that many average experiences seem mythic when viewed through the lens of a child. Adults are huge, horses can be pink, and everyone you know lives in the same neighborhood. All of these elements and more are repeated throughout the piece.
2025
$500 - SOLD
Oil on birch panel
Seeing yourself through the eyes of a partner, feeling your arms the same as you feel theirs, and losing track of where your body ends and theirs begins. These are the experiences represented within this painting. The fluid, circular mark making and cohesive palette deliver these sensations formally. The figures disappear into each other as well as the background... the application of paint creating this effect. The title is a nod to musician Adrienne Lenker’s song of the same name.
2026
$350
Oil and charcoal on canvas
As a woman, I am often faced with the constant reminder that I am living in a world made for men. It seems as though in every debate I am too loud, simply for expressing my opinions. In every lineup, I am the least amusing because females don’t ‘understand dark humor’. I would look so much better if I just smiled a little more. My clothes are too revealing, but when I cover up, I am prudish. Jokes told around the boys table turn assault into laughs and And, more than anything, the boldest man will look you in your eyes and claim to understand your experience better than you do.
2026
$400
Oil on canvas
A few years ago, when I started dating my current partner, I wrote a poem about sharing an orange. If I can find it in one of my old journals, I’ll share it below. If I can’t find it, I’ll leave it up to your interpretation.
2026
$150
Oil on canvas
This piece was created as an exploration of color and shape language. During my senior exhibition, I allowed myself to let loose and create on a very large scale. After that, in the first months of postgrad, I felt strongly that I needed to challenge myself to make pieces at a much smaller scale- to feel those limitations and see what pushing myself in that capacity would yield. Focusing on texture, layering, color, shape language, and composition, I found myself with this small, sweet piece which I am now very fond of.
2026
$500 - SOLD
Oil on canvas
Our bodies are the containers for what I describe as the ‘Infinity’. This painting depicts the experience of sharing that ‘Infinity’ with a lover. The unspoken ritual that opens a safe space for naked bodies to lie with each other. The saturation of the skin tones evokes the intense, overwhelming emotion of this experience. The figures lie in a contextless yet layered background, showcasing how this connection feels otherworldly. The figures’ eyes are touching, yet another point of intimate connection. There is no distinctly visible sexual anatomy, as the intent of this piece is not sexual. The title, “I’ll Kiss Your Elbows,” is a play on the fact that the only part of your own body that you wouldn’t be able to kiss would be your own elbows.
2025
$750 - SOLD
Oil on canvas
This piece comes from a deep place of frustration, fear, defensiveness, and pride from being made to feel like the current political climate is something that can simply “be ignored.” The choice to be apolitical is a privilege. The centerpiece, a Jaguar (disproportionately large) found in Mexican jungles, embodies defensiveness and beauty. Its endangered pattern reflects ours. The Mexican Leopard has no interest in disturbing you until you invade its space. Alongside the big cat are portraits of my father and myself. Distortion of proportion and rendering in certain areas emphasize discontentment, ambiguity, and unease. Body language and texture display defensiveness and frustration once again. Finally, the large landscape painting in the background mimics one of my father’s, a unifying symbol of our shared persistence in art-making. An icon to show we will not go silent, to reveal the softness of our souls. Despite it all, we will be gentle. We will create.
2026
$500
Oil on canvas
This piece demonstrates the turmoil of living in a human body. The expectation of performance and the weight of perception. The colors of the furniture and walls blend the figure with the environment. The couch is shoved into the corner and moulded incorrectly to the confines of the canvas, as the figure is contorted into the cushionless couch. The composition, couch, and naked figure represent the feeling of being forced to have a body and the societal pressures that exist because of it. The mark-making within the figure communicates the soul trapped within and the complicated internal structures. The figure is flushed with embarrassment. In the left corner, there is a recreation of a Georgia O’Keeffe painting (known for her large-scale floral paintings that many claim resemble female genitalia, despite that not being her intention). The photo is turned away from the figure, illustrating frustration over the fact that even when not desired, society will read a naked body as sexual.
2026
NFS
Oil on birch panel
In response to the nationwide attention Liam Conejo Ramos got (a case where ICE agents used a 5-year-old boy as a lure to find his family members and detained him and his father), I could not help but reflect his humanity onto my own. This piece is a depiction of my father and me when I was the same age as Liam. He is teaching me how to ride a bike. Whimsical illustrations play with the renderings of the figures, which are more based in reality, demonstrating my childhood innocence as well as the tender innocence my father showed me growing up. He showed me how to draw, the joy of listening to music, the beauty of creation, and the importance of having a present parental figure. I created this piece to reflect humanity within myself, my father, Liam Ramos, and his father. Furthermore, being taught how to ride a bike is a relatable, human experience… something that many supporters of ICE would have experienced. I desire to get through to one of those people and demonstrate inherent similarities we share.
2026
$1,000
Oil on canvas
One of the most distinct memories I have of my mother after losing her to a long battle with cancer in 2019 is traveling with her to the beach near my childhood home. As I was painting this experience, I realized that without a photo, I could not remember her face. The notion alone was enough to sicken me, making me averse to finishing this painting for weeks. It felt insincere to continue with my original idea, so I layered this vague, ghostly, distorted silhouette of the most that I could remember her by… the distinct mark of most cancer patients, the loss of hair. The texture of thick layers intertwined with charcoal and wax stick etchings built up throughout the piece communicates frustration, childish anger, and grief. One of the only clear memories I had with her is now forever haunted by the reality that I can’t remember her. The scale reflects the drowning feeling I experience with this.
2025
$350
Oil on canvas
This piece draws upon famous women of art history: Manet’s Olympia, Ingres’ Grande Odalisque, Goya’s Maja, and many more. Despite status, despite personality, despite soul, these women are forever remembered in history as a man stripping them not only of their clothes, but of their meaning. Boiling them down to a sexual object for their own enjoyment. Similar to these women, Vanessa is shoved into her canvas… naked, propped up and exposed for the eye of Man. However, the noticeable difference between her and those who came before is her position. While the three aforementioned women were distorted for the sexual gratification of the observer, Vanessa’s coloring and proportions have been distorted to bring discomfort to the viewer. She is being watched. She knows it, and so does the viewer, whether they want to be objectifying her or not.
2025
$1,000
Oil on canvas
I have shaped my sense of self based upon my parents since I was a child. From choosing to carry my mother’s first name (Liza) to promising that I will never change my last name, Valero (my father’s name). This painting is a reflection of the deliberate choice to carry as much of their passion, creativity, and soul into myself and my future as I can, while weaving in elements of my own identity. I display abstracted dappled light covering the entirety of my figure, as well as interacting with the background. This represents the fleeting memory and soul of my late mother, whom I see within all elements of nature and the Earth. The overall style is inspired heavily by my father’s large-scale figure paintings. I placed myself in a chair that exists within my childhood home, however, outside of said home’s iconic yellow walls (designed by my father). Overall, every element of the composition works to weave these aspects of identity together.
How would I describe my process?
I draw from a myriad of contemporary and modern inspirations such as Ida Applebroog, Jennifer Packer, Mark Rothko, and Ruprecht Von Kauffmann. Through loose, gestural figurative studies and the colorful freedom of abstract expressionism, I investigate memory, presence, and the way my personal identity is built from both my own perception of the world and the people I share my life with. My paintings combine figural observation, imagined spaces, and intimate renderings of symbols dear to me. My paintings also work to draw the unseen energy forces within the subjects out through meticulous color choice and focus on body language and posing. My work slides between the fidelity of depiction and the freedom of abstraction, being very careful to render the moments I want to preserve and obscure the elements that deserve less attention. In every piece, I aim to create a sense of intimacy and uncanny familiarity through partially abstracted elements and evocative color palettes, capturing not just what is seen, but the emotional resonance beneath it. As a mixed-race artist, some of my work is also influenced by the current political climate, as it plays a major role in my identity.