​"My project "Separation by Force" is a painting that illustrates the process of acculturation among Immigrants. I wanted to keep this painting as natural as possible, with the hopes of trying not to highlight one generation or the other, but rather to show the forced adaptation of two diverse cultures. What inspired me the most for this painting was my own experience as a first-generation immigrant and having to change my cultural practices without sacrificing the old ones."

"It was by the time I had reached the background that I questioned what I wanted to represent with my painting. Do I want to represent two cultures that will never be one? Or do I want to represent two cultures attempting to become one? For some reason, I felt the second one connected more to my primary idea. I kept thinking about what could represent the forced merge of two different objects, which inspired me to merge the background colors all while keeping the images very connected to each culture. What was meant to be a colorful thread, became red, a representation of two bleeding into one, but never really becoming one. I ended my work thinking of the media, the news, and the American dream, plastering a collage of news that can be seen through the hole. I needed to show how it is expected to let go of one culture, all while still preserving both. Representation of media felt something that I could not leave out, considering mostly the expectations of being a Latine individual living with hopes of achieving the American dream. This last part was not even considered during the project proposal, but rather it was something I felt the need to connect with my painting. While at the beginning I was going to staple news on the canvas I decided instead to stick it right behind the whole with threads for it to be seen as the conflict and judgment that comes with the merging of two cultures."