In 1994, my family immigrated to the US: where schoolteachers spoke in what to me was a mysterious language. Not understanding them, I scribbled my school days away. In time, I began to learn English. In fact, the more I learned, the more I realized that I no longer knew what they were talking about! The math was upside down and I had already mastered some graffiti bubble-letters. My my grafitti letters and caricatures were beginning to compel me. In my doodling, I stumbled into art.

Currently, I operate as an artist by organizing systems and parameters to create intimate and visceral encounters between viewers and the unexpected, the distant and/or the unheard. Whether inviting people to an event where everyone is hearing each other's actual heartbeats, in real-time as they socialize, or projecting slow-motion video close-ups of participants' faces as they transition from straight-faced to ticklish chaos, I am interested in activating subtle, sometimes unrecognized social relations.

My work is deeply tied to my own body, and being. Conviviality and my personal experiences are a source of curiosity which I explore/investigate in a wide range of traditional and non-traditional media.

Through an open-ended approach to art, I explore issues of language, behavior and identity, with focus on systems, the body and space. I've exhibited and taught throughout the US, since 2001, at the age of 16. Since then, I have worked with organizations such as Creative Capital, PFPCA, Franklin Furnace, Queens Museum of Art (New New Yorkers), Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Halka Art Project, Sprout Fund, Root Division, Oakland Unified School District, New York Department of Education, and Pittsburgh Public Schools, developing a commitment to communication through the arts; changing the future by working for a better today.

Languages:English, Portuguese, Spanish, 2+ years of Japanese.

Awards and Honors:

2013-Grand Prize: 5th International Video Arts Festival of Camaguey (FIVAC)

2013-Artist Oportunity Grant: Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council

2012-Flight School Fellowship: PFPCA/Creative Capital

2009/10-Franklin Furnace Fund Grant: Franklin Furnace

2008-Sprout Fund Seed Award: Sprout Fund

2008-Outstanding New Genres Student Honor: San Francisco Art Institute

2007-SFAI Project Grant: San Francisco Art Institute

2003-San Francisco Art Institute Merit Scolarship: San Francisco Art Institute

2002-Pittsburgh Center for the Arts Award: Pgh Center for the Arts

Selected Exhibitions:

2014-"LunarmagmaoceanLove", NURTUREart Gallery, (New York, NY)

2014-"Public Record/Pittsburgh Biennial 2014", Space Gallery, (Pittsburgh, PA)

2014-"Pittsburgh Biennial 2014", Pittsburgh Center for the Arts (Pittsburgh, PA)

2014-"Devotion", Halka Art Project (Istanbul, Turkey)

2014-"8 Hour Project", Bowman Penelec Megahan Art Gallery (Meadville, PA)

2014-"Eye Contact", Seven Sanat Galerisi (Istanbul, Turkey)

2014-Unnoticed Art Festival (Haarlem/Dordrecht, Netherlands)

2013-2013 Juan Media Festival (Incheon, S. Korea)

2013-5th International Video Arts Festival of Camaguey (Camaguey, Cuba)

2012-"New Works, New Problems", Pgh Filmmakers Galleries (Pittsburgh, PA)

2011-"Fault Line", The Urban Tree Forge (Pittsburgh, PA)

2010-"Waves and Circles", Art Institute of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA)

2009-Conflux Festival 2009 (New York, NY)

2009-"Tempo huManu", Synthetic Zero Art Space (Bronx, NY)

2008-"HotHouse 2008", Sprout Organization (Pittsburgh, PA)

2008-"Spring Show 2008", Diego Rivera Gallery (San Francisco, CA)

2008-"Sound Device", Root Division (San Francisco, CA)

2007-"One Day It Will All Make Sense", Edge Zones Gallery (Miami, FL)

2006-"Eye Plugs", Little Roxy Theater (San Francisco, CA)

2005-"Media Experiment", The RX Gallery (San Francisco, CA)

2003-"Rafael Canedo", Jadite Gallery (New York, NY)

2002-"Young Artists Show", GalleriE Chiz (Pittsburgh, PA)

2001-"All City Arts Showcase", Manchester Craftsman Guild (Pittsburgh, PA)

Teaching Experience:

2011/2014-Creative and Performing Arts Highschool, Pittsburgh, PA

Head Instructor. Sculpture (9th-12th graders)

2008/2009-PS 212, Bronx, NY

Head Instructor. Performing Culture: dance to communicate. (6th-8th graders)

2007-Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY

Head Instructor. Body Language: performance and photography. (All Ages)

2007-San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA

Classroom Facilitator. Design + Technology. (Undergrad)