Eileen Jimenez

Tribe: Otomi
Based In: Seattle, WA
Email: eileengjimenez@gmail.com
Social Media: @maese.art.by.eileen.jimenez
Website: www.eileenjimenez.com

About the Art
As an artist, community member, and a leader, everything I do and create is influenced by my many intersecting identities and lived experiences. I create the art, the structures, and the educational experiences that I wish my community and I would have seen and had access to as a girl from the 'hood. My artwork is grounded in community. Specifically, I believe it is my role to continue to show up, disrupt the dominant narrative, and gain access to institutional resources to share them with my community. The stories, values, theories, and practices of generations of Otomi matriarchs inform my artwork. In my art, you see the visual representation of my soul, and the colors, the culture, the visions and the dreams that live there.

About the Artist
I was born in southern California, but my family is from Michoacán and Guanajuato. I am an indigenous queer artist living in occupied Duwamish Territory (Seattle, WA). Even though I grew up in extreme poverty in Anaheim, California, art filled my house. My siblings and I spent the days re-creating the art we admired on TV or in the black and white copies of paintings my mom photocopied from the public library and taped around the house. I earned a French and Francophone Studies Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Master’s Degree in Counseling: Student Development in Higher Education. As I’ve navigated higher education my art saved me when I felt overwhelmed by the pressure of working full time and going to school full time. I’ve always found myself gravitating towards art, making art for friends and family but always reminding myself that my art was not real art, because I did not have formal art training. Throughout the years I have realized that I do not need formal training for the art I create. My soul speaks through my art. In my art you will see the aesthetics of my Mexican and Otomi stories. Currently, I work full time at a community college supporting students navigate higher education and trying to dismantle white supremacist and institutional racist policies and structures. I am currently in an EdD in higher education program at the Muckleshoot Tribal College and the University of Washington, Tacoma. I am loving reading and learning and you will probably see the themes of decolonized education in my current body of work.