"I am a Mexican-American artist who is creating what he believes will spark conversations around the topics of gender identities and expressions in the Black community. I am an advocate of equality, regardless of race, gender identity, socioeconomic status, and religious affiliation.
My goal with this exhibit is to create pieces that will focus on the beauty that is being a Black man or a Black woman while also breaking down the ideologies surrounding gender identities such as hyper-sexuality, patriarchy, hyper masculinity and homophobia. Some of my pieces will be self-explanatory while others will invite the viewer to internally breakdown what they believe the piece means in their own words. I hope to ignite some emotions which hopefully encourages the viewer to examine their own ideologies of this topic. My pieces will focus on the joy and pain that is gender identity and expression." -- Frank Garcia-Ornelas, GSSW, '16