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For over twenty years, I have explored questions of identity, memory and immigration through deeply personal visual narratives. Born and raised in Colombia, I lived through the daily violence of the 1980s and ’90s, marked by the loss of loved ones and a lingering sense of fear that shaped my childhood. Since settling in Australia 16 years ago, that emotional landscape remains central to my art.
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My practice is rooted in the literal and symbolic use of hair, collected from myself and my family, glued meticulously to paper, mesh and wood. Hair carries DNA and memory; for me it is both material and metaphor — an intimate record of lived experience. I grew up in my mother’s home‑salon in Piedecuesta, Colombia, and those early encounters between body, material and identity inform my process today.
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Central works include recreations of family photographs, immigration documents, identity‑card photos, and personal records required for Australian residency. In one powerful piece, I used my father’s hair to reconstruct his death certificate—an artwork that received Highly commended in the 2025 Dobell Drawing Prize. This laborious drawing, made with hair, marked a powerful act of remembrance. Unable to return to Colombia during the pandemic, I faced deep loss and depression.
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Previously in 2021, Immigration Form 80 Page 3, composed of strands of hair, was highly commended in the Dobell Drawing Prize (#22), cementing my place in Australia’s contemporary drawing scene.
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Beyond paper works, I’ve created mixed‑media sculptures and assemblages, combining hair with objects like rusted mesh or peeled wood—materials that conjure memories of childhood, Catholic symbolism, and immigration.
Religious niches and references to spiritual traditions emerge organically from forms and materials, reflecting my upbringing in a deeply Catholic town.
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More than personal grief, my work speaks to broader migration narratives—the countless forms, bureaucratic barriers, and emotional demands that come with resettlement. The process of applying for visas, gathering photographs and evidence, and proving identity becomes part of the artistic process itself. The artwork materializes this tension — a fragile yet powerful record of belonging.
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Across dozens of solo and group shows (including the Gosford Art Prize, Jacaranda Drawing Award, and exhibitions in Colombia, Venezuela and Australia), my ongoing series manifests as a coherent body of work: drawings, sculptures, and installations formed with hair and memory. By using personal artifacts, hair, and everyday ephemera, I aim to create visual and emotional bridges between Colombia and Australia, between past and present, between affected trauma and restored connection.
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My work invites viewers into a delicate dialogue—through hairlines, portraits, documents, and ritual forms—invoking questions of self, migration, heritage, transmission and loss. Through intimate materials and forms, I aim to transform personal history into collective resonance.