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Artist Profile

Jessica Ayala

Studio Resident (2017 - 2018)

Performance, Writer
Statement of Work

I didn’t learn to speak or write in the English language until I was in the third grade. I engaged with my peers through sight and gestures until I mastered the design of words. I haven’t stopped writing since. My work is an infusion of my journey as a Colombian American immigrant activist woman raised in Kansas City, Missouri. My writing emerges traditional folklore storytelling told by Afro Cuban and Colombian beats embracing the awareness of the African diaspora. I am perpetually pushing the undocumented immigrant indigenous resistant voice through drums, songs, and poetry. My work takes a critical look at the social, political and cultural injustices of Latin America creating space for conversation and education. I write what I have experienced, what my people have experienced hoping all who engage leave more aware and inspired to be the change they wish to see.

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