"Into the Cave," completed it in July 2017, is about rediscovering my roots as an artist by re-imagining my earlier work as cave paintings.

"Into the Cave" was included in Manhattan Art International's 2017 The Healing Power of Art Exhibition. It also won First Place in Tampa Regional Artist's Hellzapoppin' Show in October 2017.

recurring symbols: the mermaid and medusa (two ink drawings and one thumbnail) (2008-2016)

"Mermaid Mother" (Acrylic, tissue, grey canvas and cardboard on yellow canvas) (2016)

detail of Medusa

"9/11 Denial" (Acrylic on brown paper) (2001)

detail of kneeling figures from "9/11 Denial"

"Standing Portrait" (ink wash on butcher paper) (2002)

standing figure from "Standing Portrait" with mermaid merged into her leg

The cave figures throughout this painting are derived from paintings, drawings and sketches I've done while in school and beyond. The mermaid and the medusa make their reappearance in lower part of the cave. They were recently used in my "Mermaid Mother" painting but have been drawn at different stages of my life, using different weapons and sporting different hair. I tried to pull a variety of compositions from my older body to represent my art making history. Some of the works I pulled were from high school, some later. I was still developing my symbolic style as I was fascinated with dreams and interpreting frequent dreams I had back then.

Most people might not know the older works, but I remember them and where I was making each one. Getting back in touch with where I have been has been the driving force to move me forward in my paintings. It's a reminder that yes, I have always been an artist and still am one now.

You can see some of the progress on my Instagram here.

Creating the Cave wall:

The sand on the cave wall is all local Florida beach sand (with lots of shell fragments and other things). Remember applying glitter to glue on paper when you were a kid and shaking the rest off to reveal your glittery design? Well, it's pretty much like that only with sand and I reuse much of the same sand for other works. I paint modge podge onto the canvas, sprinkle handfuls of sand across it while it is wet and gently tilt the canvas this way and that to shake off excess and help coat other areas. I then leave the coating to completely dry for hours while I work on other parts of the painting or eat lunch. Later, I paint the surface with some thinner acrylics to get into all the nooks and crannies of the gritty surface.

"Bill Monster" illustrates the stress when medical bills from hospital treatments pile up. Sacrifices are made so their child can be healed but the true cost is always lurking, ready to strike. I made some changes from the ink version with my parent's poses and made the medical codes more subtle. I depict my parents as merpeople as I represent myself as such, and felt it appropriate to this piece. The tree to the far right is a Calamondin tree to reference my mother's filipino heritage and to show how medicine that is meant to be good for you can also cause pain. This tree bears small sour citrus and its branches have large thorns. To suggest that the tree is also the bed I am laying in, I incorporated pine needles in both the roots and the bed rails.

"Bill Monster" (30" X 24") Acrylic, sand, sea glass, art paper, pine needles, plastic and rice paper on canvas, 2017.

I hid medical codes for my diagnosis and treatment under the glass as these were some of the codes used to create the bills my parents spent years paying even after treatment was over. Before Hurricane Irma hit in 2017, I collected sea glass and fine beach sand from Puerto Rico. That fine beach sand was coated throughout the piece and on the fins of the monster. I then layered rice paper over the fins with additional sand to give an ethereal earthly depth to them.

Applying sand to “Bill Monster” with gel gloss medium.

Tiny fragments of shell encircle my father's neck to reference his passing in recent times. His shell necklace, from when my parents met, was passed to me not long after his death. My parents both loved the beach when I was a kid but much of that precious time was taken with extended hospital visits.