One of your most powerful works (in my opinion!) is a portrait of you and your grandma, in which you are tenderly combing her hair. Could you tell me more about your relationship with your grandma?

My grandma is my rock. She is simply my everything. I probably even have a closer relationship with her than I do with my mom. She is a really strong woman; probably the strongest I know. My mom was a single mother and had to raise me alone for a big part of my childhood. She had to work extra hours, and she couldn’t always be home with me because of it. Which is totally fine because I know she had to do it. But while that was happening, I spent most of my time home with my grandma. I learned everything from her. She’s the one person I would probably do anything for, and I can’t even think of how it would be to lose her. A life without her just doesn’t even feel possible. She’s been there every step of the way. She’s my number one supporter when it comes to my art, and she’s always rooting for me. I love her so much. Life didn’t do her justice. I want to create for women like her to have a voice. She’s just so precious to me. Actually her name is Précieuse, which means precious in French. It’s so perfect, just like her.

Your works display a traditional painterly aesthetic on the surface, but most of them are created digitally. I love that you adopt the aesthetic of a traditional medium yet subvert its largely patriarchal history by using new and still somewhat avant-garde digital technologies. Could you comment on this?

I really love both traditional and digital platforms, but in a world where everything has to be done fast, digital art becomes an asset for an artist like me who has so many ideas but so little time. Not to be mistaken, most of my digital pieces with actual details took me 10 hours, or at least a good eight hours, to do. Digital art doesn’t require less effort or talent, like a lot of people may think. You just don’t have to worry about the extra time it takes to set up your easel, mix your colors, and refill your dirty cup of water all the time. Which is actually pretty convenient because when I feel like creating at three in the morning I don’t exactly want to set up all of those things. Digital art really saves me that extra time. Also, it helps me stay motivated because sometimes after taking too much time to set up I lose my drive to do it.

You do sometimes work with oil paint. What is it that you like about returning to oils as a medium?

When I have an actual canvas with me and actual paint, I always happen to put even more work in the story that I want to paint. With digital art it really doesn’t matter if the piece isn’t that good because you can start over so easily. But with oils or acrylics if you fuck up—well, it’s your money and your supplies that you’re wasting. I also always end up having a bigger attachment to my oil paintings. They just hold emotional value that’s hard to describe. It probably has to do with the fact that these pieces are physically in my presence, which makes them a bit more special in my opinion.

You seem to be very prolific. You set challenges for yourself to work within certain parameters and post the results on Instagram. What are you currently working towards, online or off?

I always want to better myself and my technique, so it becomes easier for me to share the multiple stories I have in mind. These days I’m trying to keep a bullet journal so I can really get to doodle everyday and everywhere. Which is small but also important. Keeping all my thoughts and ideas organized somewhere just seemed like a great idea, honestly. I’m probably going to restart another challenge because my last one was a bit short-lived because of school. My ultimate goal this summer is to create art to no end and not procrastinate. Procrastination is my worst enemy.

Could you tell me some of your current sources of inspiration?

I get inspired from multiple artists, like Frida Kahlo, Wangechi Mutu, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Yayoi Kusama. But also culture, politics, social media, and photography keep my creative brain happy. Not going to lie, my “Save” page on Instagram is my baby whenever I don’t know what to do. I get so much inspiration from the people I follow, it’s crazy.

What are your aims for your art practice and yourself in the future?

I’d like to become a curator later in life and to keep my art as something I do on the side. Because motivating and creating spaces for other women of color to exhibit their work is even more important to me than really getting anywhere with my own art.

Could you give me three words to describe your artwork?

It’s four words, but bear with me. It’s just a quote I love to remind myself of every single day, and it is in my bio on Instagram. It will probably stay in my bio forever, too: “The future is female.” ♦