BIOGRAPHY

I’m Claudia Medina Vega, a Chilean/Venezuelan artist currently based in Miami, United States. My artistic journey began during my childhood as a little immigrant girl, driven by an innate calling to express myself through drawing. Inspired by my passion for art, fashion magazines, Japanese mangas, and design. I eventually studied Architecture and graduated from FAU- UCV in Venezuela.

Constantly exploring new techniques such as embroidery, watercolor and digital drawing, I find inspiration in the versatility of materials. Graffito pencils, crayons, and china ink have always been my trusty companions, but it was during my architectural studies that I developed an affinity for fine line technical black markers.

My story took a unique turn in 2021 when I received the COVID-19 vaccine. My body unexpectedly responded with chronic involuntary movements in my hands, arms, legs, and head. These movements became more than a physical challenge; they became an unexpected canvas for my art. My determination to adapt my art and create perseveres, providing not only an outlet for expression but a source of healing.

I have moved 22 times, and perhaps the journey continues. Relocations have been a constant companion for me and my family since as long as I can remember, sometimes willingly and other times involuntarily, echoing the experiences of most families worldwide. As an immigrant, the choice is often made because it seems like the best or only option. Documenting memories becomes a task as we embark on the departure.

The collective change we underwent in 2020 due to the pandemic transformed us all—adaptation, uncertainty, loss, resilience, unity, disunity. For many, life was put on hold for months; for others, it was a time of self-discovery with friends and family. For a significant majority, there were painful farewells. In other cases, not even that. The pandemic brought both compassion and confrontation. Wounds are still healing.

Amidst all this, another move accompanied my experience during the pandemic. Then came the vaccine. Within days, another bodily change accompanies me until today. Inexplicable involuntary movements have caused my life to change—for better or for worse depends on how you choose to see it. Unpredictable and violent movements of arms, head, and legs have created an imbalance in my nature and in my surroundings. It has been a move from the person I was to another version of myself.

During this transformation, the need to express my experience has been part of this obstacle-filled journey, most of them intangible, inexplicable doubts. Capturing and preserving these experiences in boxes, documenting through my drawings sensations, memories, my reality marked by these involuntary movements—tattooed on the skin of these boxes—ready to move to a new reality, date unknown. This work continues to grow, where self-portraits are also portraits of anyone in the midst of a process of transformation and relocation.

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