Bio
Valeria Olguín is a Xicana visual artist raised between South San Francisco and her mom’s burrito shop with roots in el Distrito Federal and Durango, México. While pursuing degrees in Ethnic Studies and Advertising at the University of Oregon, Valeria began community organizing where she learned to incorporate art as a communicative tool for social issues and community work. She now primarily illustrates, playfully referring to her art as love letters dedicated to marginalized folks who see themselves reflected in her work through shared joy and beauty.
My art is influenced by my ancestral roots, my identity and my experiences as both a community organizer and a Brown Woman growing up in the Bay Area. I see my art as a form of communication and extension of my work in social movements.I primarily create illustrations, playfully referring to my art as love letters dedicated to marginalized folks that see themselves reflected in my work. The vibrant colors and caricatures draw influence from the playful, lighthearted naivety of the childhood cartoons I grew up watching to connect marginalized experiences through a joyful and hopeful perspective. The centering of brown skin, round faces, wide noses, and big cheeks in my caricatures aims at combating conventional beauty standards by centering marginalized features as beautiful.