In the past, my work included experimentation with unusual mediums like fire, rubber cement, glass, and velvet. I love the playfulness of experimentation and creation—I see the process of creation as a collaboration between spirit and I.

 

Some things that appeal to my rods and cones are texture, layered colors, energetic lines, and chaotic order. 
 

My work has been shown in Tucson, Arizona; Portland, Oregon; and Vancouver, Washington, over the past twenty-five years. Some of my work lives in California, NYC, Delaware, Las Vegas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the PNW.
 

I endeavor to make work that inspires change and healing in others around me; work that makes people stop, take a breath, and resonate with something deeper within themselves. I was struck by a show recently from a psychic medium whom invited the viewer to take in the energy, color, and texture of the work on an emotional level before allowing the brain to completely analyze it and it resonated with how some of my pieces seem to be experienced best.

 

It is a passion to be part of a creative community, I find infinite fascination in other perspectives and the humans they belong to. Within the past two years, three close friends and I formed ourselves into a collective which we call the Ink & Key Society--as a way to collaborate and elevate each other.

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Some of my educational endeavours include a Web Design certificate from Clark College (2019), an A.A.S. in Graphic Communications (2002), and a few art and science courses taken at the University of Arizona. I am an enthusiast of retro meets contemporary aesthetics.

 

Self-published works include a fine art & comics anthology titled Ornithopter Quarterly with an Annual Edition produced from 2001-2005. In 1997, after collecting work from friends, I produced a single, cut-and-paste issue of an art and comics zine with a gothic aesthetic called the Hideous, and more recently a small, collection of flash nonfiction titled Centurion Parade about my experiences with a mental health crisis or what’s known in Tarot as a Tower moment. ​

 

Over the years, I’ve worked on projects for design clients from web projects, to logos, design assets, and collateral. I managed marketing and media for a small coffee company in Portland, OR for a couple of years. I’ve worked in the coffee industry for close to a decade from barista to roaster, worked in the behavioral health space for a handful of years, volunteered with the Independent Publishing Resource Center in Portland, OR, as well as the sign and copy shop industries. I love variety and working with my hands.

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Other fun creative projects include multimedia video work and the use of my voice to convey some of the strange visual experiences within the other realms and mental spaces I have visited.

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Email me@chicaballero.com sometime if you'd like to work together or connect with me on the social media channels below.

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Many thanks and much love for your time and interest.

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