Julia Vera (told by Camila Mathó '11)

Julia Vera was born in Uruguay. She began taking art classes in 1989 and immediately fell in love with the feeling art gave her. She finds her inspiration in places all around her; whether it is when she is walking down the street and sees inspiration in someone's face or simply by looking at other people's art. When Vera looks at other peoples work, she likes to imagine how she would have made it differently and how she would change it if she could. She is attracted to art that has a lot of textures and loves that, when looking at pieces, one can see the process that the artist took while creating the piece. She believes that the more texture the artwork has, the better it looks, and the more appealing to the viewer.

Reprinted by permission of Julia Vera © Julia Vera

Julia Vera learns about herself through her art and believes that there are no rules when it comes to art. When creating her pieces, she thinks about the rules that others think apply and decides to break them. She has realized that by doing this, her work has become more interesting as well as successful. She likes to see how her art changes the more she experiments. Vera's main inspiration is people's faces. She creates a lot of masks and they are usually representations of what she sees in people or their lives; the masks become a "vision" for her.

Camila Mathó is a studio art major with an architectural studies concentration at the College of the Holy Cross. A current junior, Mathó is an integral part of campus life as a Resident Assistant, Multicultural Peer Educator (MPE), Relationship Peer Educator (RPE), and member of LASO (Latin American Student Organization). She was born in Montevideo, Uruguay and currently resides in Cambridge, MA. She has always identified with art; as a child her parents played a vital role in developing her artistic talents. She is always looking for elements in everyday life to inspire her, and draws much of her inspiration from her connection with Uruguay. She searches for projects that challenge her to try something new while still associating with her past.