Why do I make art? My first real connection is coming to this country as a little girl from Chile without knowing the English language. I spent very long days in the classroom, not understanding the teacher or the students. I understood what I saw around me, all that was visual. I drew everything that I wanted to learn. I drew to communicate. Through art, I learned to communicate. This is when I began to understand the power of making art. I learned how to utilize all types of materials because of the economic strains we had. There wasn’t enough money to buy typical art making tools so I became a very resourceful child. These experiences made me curious about the inherent properties of different materials and how they could be used. Color is a significant influence in my work. I have the ability to remember through color my childhood seashore of cerulean blue, bright aqua green and bronze yellow shores. Color became a narrative for my sculptures and paintings. I use color to describe my connection to memories, places, people and life. I have always felt like a storyteller. Narrating my experiences through images and symbols striving to connect with universal themes; love, fear, disappointment, the shared human experience.