Growing up in Miami, Florida, I always felt like I did not belong. As a second-generation American, born in America with Cuban parents, I felt like I had two identities. In Miami, Cuba was present in my every day.

For my MFA creative project, I looked inward to understand what it means to have two identities, how my identities were formed, and why it is so important to me. I employed auto-ethnography and ethnographic methods to explore identity, hybridity, memories and place. I conducted interviews with Cuban-Americans who talked about their experiences and how they perceived their identities. To tell our stories, I designed an autobiographical book describing my experiences growing up in Miami and how these experiences and the environment made me who I am, both Cuban and American. The structure of the book is, in essence, a book within a book, where the main focus is my personal narrative, with excerpts of stories revealed during the interviews I conducted. As designer-author and through visual storytelling, I hope to gain understanding, acceptance and cultural empathy, and to start a dialogue about identity and what it means to be American.

Exhibitions
• 2018 The Book as Art v6.0: Pulp, Periodicals Gallery of the Decatur Library, Decatur, Georgia
• 2017 7th Annual International Juried Exhibit, Art of the Book, Rochester Public Library, Rochester, New York
• 2016 Biennial Faculty Exhibition, Gallery 2, University of West Georgia
• 2014 Personal Histories International Artist Book Exhibition, Redland Museum, Queensland, Australia
• 2014 Purchase Award, ARTBOUND 2014 Juried Student Book Arts Exhibition, George A. Smathers Libraries, Department of Special Collections, Book Arts Collection, University of Florida
• 2013 SA+AH MFA Candidates Thesis Exhibition II, University Gallery, University of Florida

Collections
• Book Arts Collection, SCAD–Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia
• Book Arts Collection, George A. Smathers Libraries at The University of Florida, Special Collections, Gainesville, Florida