ixchel_ichel

Artist, Model, Academic based in Redford, Detroit, and Kalamazoo. My body of work explores the imagination of lived peace and harmony, focusing on queer black and latine women-hood and natural elements. Artists like Lois Mailou Jones, Renee Stout, and Aya Takano inform and inspire my building visual landscape. Bridging the two elements of vibrant colors and brown skin is my personal diction in decoloniality by representing black and brown women in a dreamlike reality. I aim to create more traditional oil paintings with blackness and queerness in the center point. If not oil paints, I experiment with household office supplies, such as highlighters, sharpies, and ballpoint pens. Each sketch is an extension of myself, informing the viewer of the many aspects held within femininity, connection, and spirit.