Initially drawn to drag performers and the energetic yet dimly lit safe spaces they occupy, my new work aims to investigate self-aware yet prideful queer people. My confident brushstrokes and bold use of color reflect the unbashful representation of queer subjects in my work. I’m inspired by the Quito and Cuzco schools of painting and the way that they appropriated Catholic imagery in order to celebrate and cherish their own cultural identity whilst using their oppressor’s visual language. Similarly, I aim to honor queer narratives by appropriating and reclaiming traditional Catholic images, narratives, and icons. Many of these were used in my upbringing as groundwork for gendered roles and heteronormativity that manifested in homophobia. For many of my paintings, I have those closest to me pose in drag, breaking down gender roles and limitations while simultaneously referencing specific Catholic motifs and iconography.