An Interdisciplinary Humanist with a Public Vocation

I am a globally minded scholar and public humanist working at the intersections of art history, comparative religious and spiritual studies, and sociopolitical analysis. Born and raised in Barranquilla, I began my career in Bogotá and have been based in New York City since 2016. I am fluent in Spanish, French, and Portuguese.

I hold a PhD in Art History from Columbia University, an MA in Art History from New York University's Institute of Fine Arts, and a double BA in History and Political Science from the Universidad de los Andes. I am proud and grateful that all three institutions awarded me full-tuition scholarships to pursue my education. Throughout my studies, I have trained under leading figures in the arts, including Professor Kellie Jones, Professor Edward Sullivan, and Curator Inés Katzenstein as direct advisors and mentors.

My dissertation, "Lucerna Extincta: Spiritual Promiscuities in Performance and Installation Art, 1970s–80s," examines the influence and interrelation of hegemonic and non-hegemonic religions and spiritualities in the arts of Bogotá, Port of Spain, London, and Los Angeles. My thinking develops an innovative theoretical framework by incorporating the concept "spiritual promiscuity" into the writing of modern and contemporary art history. It also explores how art and spirituality serve as vehicles for social coalition-building in times of political hardship.

My career has unfolded at the highest institutional levels of my field. I have worked as a Research Fellow at the Museum of Modern Art’s Cisneros Institute and at the Pérez Art Museum Miami's Caribbean Cultural Institute. I also served as Coordinator of Education at the Museos de Arte y Numismática del Banco de la República de Colombia in Bogotá, and as Intern at the Art Museum of the Americas, Organization of American States in Washington, D.C. 

Additionally, I have held fellowship appointments in Academic Administration and in Public Humanities at Columbia University. I was selected to represent, for two consecutive years, the Department of Art History and Archaeology’s graduate student body on Columbia University’s Art Properties Committee. I have also served as jury for prestigious awards such as the Fulbright Scholarship as well as the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection and Independent Curators International Central America and the Caribbean Travel Award.

My work has been generously supported by the Fulbright Program, Colombia’s Ministerio de Cultura, and the Fundación Colfuturo. I have also received grants from Columbia University’s Heyman Center for the Public Humanities, the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life, and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.  

I have widely presented and published my work through universities, museums, and galleries, both nationally and internationally. Click below to consult my CV or refer to the drop down menu for further information.

Image: Standing at the Getty Center's Robert Irwin's Central Garden in Los Angeles, California.