About

"The first thing I remember drawing was a coffee cup. It was in White Plains, New York. We had just gotten back from visiting family in the area. I went and sat in the chair, grabbed a piece of notebook paper from the pad they usually have at the desk, took a pen, and began to sketch away at my first still life. I began with a circle, and then I started adding layers. Over the span of 15 minutes, I was able to show my parents and brother my first masterpiece. They applauded and were surprised not only by how fast but also by how accurate the detail was at such a young age. Their expressions on their faces solidified my journey into the art world.

I've always had a pencil and paper, paint and a canvas, or anything that allows me to express myself in the way that I saw fit, depending on how I was feeling. Sometimes it could change based on a lot of factors, whether it be my need to always do something new or my self-diagnosed ADHD. Regardless, it gave me a feeling that I would hold dear to my heart for the years to come. Over time, it evolved, and with the help of being surrounded by creatives like my dad, who is also an artist but specializes in murals and spray cans for the past 10 years...

That wasn't always his medium, though. From the age of six, I remember my dad customizing anything from shoes and painting on shirts and any sort of fabric you could think of. But really, he was just painting in general, always creating or drawing whenever he had the time, which was all the time because he made time for it. He'd been doing this from a kid too. My dad ended up getting a job as an art teacher over at the Overtown Youth Center down here in Miami. We would always be a part of the summer camp, and the program would always manage to have us in an interesting excursion. Whether it be private tours at the Frost Art Museum, making and collaborating with graffiti artist Retna, Alex Mijares, or even meeting with fine art artist Kadir Nelson, collaborating on a mural together and being invited to the home of his mother, and even meeting Toni Randolph at her home in Miami, and many more experiences that I would collect and build for my artistic journey.

When my dad decided to start doing more murals and taking on more projects, I would often tag along with him. I started to develop many creative interests, and art class became my favorite subject, so much so that I would extend my creations outside of the classroom. The art studio was always my safe haven, from drawing basic figures and still lifes in Ms. Knowles' elementary art class to customizing shoes and running a brand in Ms. Woods' class my senior year of high school. My interest led me more to photography and creating video content. Even in high school projects, I always found myself wanting to create a video, and in Dr. Lane's class, for example, I described the history assignment or the first one where I broke down the game of baseball and even created a video for it. Even in college, I would offer free photo shoots with every purchase of my merch. I was the photographer and creative director for the shoots.

I love cameras. I have a big collection of them to this day and usually can't find a reason to sell unless it ends up getting broken. But for the most part, one particular aspect of photography always stuck with me, and that was film. I loved and still love film. You cannot capture an essence more than what film does. I feel like it is very unique, and the fact that you only have a certain amount of exposures makes getting a good composition even more important, opposed to digital where you're always granted your instant gratification and able to look at different images on the spot or take as many as you please. In doing this, I decided to look for some film labs around Miami and places where I could find film with my newfound hobby and purchased all the 35mm rolls I could. Developing film and scans to see them, over time I started collecting a lot of these bags of negatives just from my profession. They give you the option at film stores to pick up your negatives or they throw them away. I would keep my negatives and just let them pile up and pile up, and it got to the point where throwing them away was on my mind at some point. I saw this and it sparked an idea in my mind as well, knowing that I too would probably end up doing the same thing but instead I wanted to create something out of it, repurpose it, and turn it into art.

I just didn't know what yet.

Ideas have a shelf life. You leave them up there for too long, they will either collect dust or get scooped up by the next person in line. Mid-November 2022 was when I took it off the shelf and pursued creating. I was struck with heartache and hardship dealing with the passing of my friend, and I needed an outlet to process my grief. I decided to reach into the bag of cellophane and grab some strips of film and make art. The first piece I ended up creating was the Jimi Hendrix piece. This piece I just wanted to make something that was of someone iconic dealing with music, and I stumbled upon this image while on a Pinterest rabbit hole and decided it was the best fit for this. I had an art show coming up too that I needed to prepare for, so I figured this would be a good way for me to be productive as well. It was in early December for an art Basel at an event called Basel South featuring and celebrating black artists in the Miami area. It was also my first major art show that I've ever really been at or been a part of, so it was a big night for me. I had showcased five different pieces, and for the most part, I was very confident in them. However, I did feel that some of them, looking back, could've been better. But I feel we all have those moments where we look at where we used to be and compare it to how we are now, and then I guess that's what we can call growth. Nonetheless, I had these five pieces displayed, and in the corner, I had the Jimi Hendrix piece. When you first turned the corner and looked at the display of my art, you were able to see this piece that was made out of film. There was a whole reception and everything for the night, and once everyone was let in to see the artwork, that's when a lot of chatter started to pick up about the piece that I had made, the Jimi Hendrix. So, throughout the night, a lot of people were coming up to me, asking me about my thought process behind creating this piece, what it was made out of, and giving their insights on how they felt and how my work made them feel. That alone was so fulfilling because to be able to have someone in real life be so enamored and taken aback by your work and truly inspire them just because of things that you can create with your hands, that, to me, meant more than anything that night. I had my first collectors by the end of the night, and the Hendrix was sold.

So, after the night was over, I decided to swap out one of my pieces and create something similar to the Jimi Hendrix piece but to go in the opposite corner of my displayed gallery. This time, I chose another hip-hop reference because music is something that is important to me. I chose 2Pac this time, so I picked up my film and my scissors and began cutting away to create this piece. It was done late at night, early in the morning, and I was able to swap it out and make it visible to the public eye.

I ended up selling most of my work, but mainly the two pieces that were made out of film. From then on, with the constructive criticism and advice from my dad, who told me to stick with this medium and find ways to innovate and create with it, I, a person that enjoys doing every creative endeavor possible, a jack of all trades, decided to pursue mastery of this medium. I began making more works out of film. This was good because it allowed me to explore more layers of my creativity and find new ways to innovate and create something beautiful out of something that I already love.

I started to really hone in on my craft after the passing of my grandma, who was a major light and big influence in my life. I was truly a grandma's baby, and to see someone whom I admired, loved, and adored taken away from me inspired me to want to create things in order to process my emotions but also leave something as a legacy for my future, just like the legacy she left for me. I'm a strong believer, and I like to say to myself that we must create art today to outlive tomorrow.

So, from then on, I just began creating art out of film and going to different art shows, traveling, and getting more people to see my work and experience it, which is the main reason why I'm creating this website. I want to document this as a portfolio journal. Thank you and have a blessed day."