My current mixed-media paintings explore the environments of my homelands of southern Colorado and New Mexico, combined with supernatural spaces inhabited by transformative beings representing spirits and ancestors that take on various forms, including parts of animals, humans, figurative shapes, and elements of nature. Each character and scene offers a glimpse into their stories and worlds. My inspiration derives from my dreams, life experiences, and my Nuevomexicano and Indigenous Genízaro heritage.  My heritage has a complex and often overlooked history, dating back centuries in New Mexico when Indigenous women and children were frequently captured and enslaved during raids by enemy Native tribes and the Spanish. They were then sold to other tribes and Hispano families as indentured servants, often given the ethnic label Genízaro—defined as detribalized and Hispanicized Indigenous people of mixed tribal origins descending from war captives. Over time, as Genízaros and Hispanos intermarried, their communities and cultures in New Mexico and southern Colorado merged. After the Mexican-American War in 1848, the U.S. government took control of the region, implementing policies of forced assimilation and discrimination. These policies sought to erase Spanish and Indigenous languages, outlaw Indigenous religious practices (until 1978), and impose Anglo-American cultural norms on the region’s diverse communities. This led to the loss and destruction of many teachings, traditional practices, and beliefs, resulting in distorted histories and many forgetting their origins. In 2007, the State of New Mexico recognized Genízaros and their contemporary descendants as Indigenous through the State Legislature. However, we are still not officially state or federally recognized. We continue to face various forms of marginalization and erasure, emphasizing the importance of reclaiming and celebrating our history through art, education, and other means. As I honor, explore, and reflect on the diverse connections of my past, I express them through my art as an instrument of healing, resilience, and awareness. I focus on creating new narratives that are symbolic, imaginative, and still rooted in reality while showing the relationship between nature and humans and how we are all connected in the physical and invisible worlds around and within us. My creative process usually starts with experimenting with a concept of the scene or character I want to depict while remaining open and letting the subconscious direct the painting as it evolves naturally. I use various materials, including acrylic, spray paint, airbrush, and ink, on paper, wood panels, canvas, and leather surfaces.