For as long as I can remember, I’ve been absolutely entranced by art. My first ever exhibition was taped along my parents’ bedroom wall, which included interesting portraits made out cheap color pencils and printer paper. I was always up to something crafty: whether it was making friendship bracelets out of pipe cleaners or building a money box out of cardboard for my very popular popsicle stand. Still, I didn’t start proper artistic training until I enrolled in Academia María Reina for middle school and high school in 2014. Every year, I signed up for all the available art courses. I worked with pencils, charcoal, watercolor, color pencils, coffee, oil paints and acrylics. My senior year, I registered for AP Drawing and created my first collection of paintings and drawings; these pieces focused on the visualization of different phobias. Simultaneously, I was taking collegiate science classes, like AP Biology & AP Environmental Science: this is where I found my interest in the natural sciences. With graduation approaching and after extensive research, I decided I would merge my passions for art and science to pursue biomedical illustration at the graduate level.

At the college level, I delved into microbiology research in Dr. Laura Runyen-Janecky’s Sodalis Glossinidius Lab where I worked as a research assistant to study symbiotic relationships between bacteria and multicellular organisms. Apart from my university coursework, I spent the summer of 2024 in an atelier in Rolle, Switzerland where I dedicated my time to the refinement of my drawing skills and focused on generating statement portfolio pieces in preparation for my master’s program. Recently, I graduated University of Richmond with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Biology and Visual Media Arts Practice, Magna Cum Laude. Now, I’m a first year graduate student at University of Illinois in Chicago, where I’m pursuing a Master of Science in Biomedical Visualization.

Outside of my academic and professional endeavors, I love to spend my free time reading, cooking for my loved ones, and watching true crime shows.