bio

Yaneli Delgado who goes by her artist’s name Omequiztli is a Mexican American artist and educator born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a double major in Sociology and Spanish and received her art teaching credentials from California State University, Long Beach.

She believes that art can send a powerful message with emotionally inspired touches. Behind every piece of her artwork exists a personal or cultural narrative. She firmly believes that art creates a dialogue among the viewers and the artist. For this reason, she challenges the viewer to wonder the significance behind each art piece and to want to know the narrative. 

Not learning about her own sources of cultural capital, has intrigued her to explore her own cultural background and identity. She has been privileged enough to learn more about her cultural history from educators; high school and college, and in her community. Yaneli intends to create a dialogue and teach others the richness and uniqueness of cultures and concepts of identity. As a woman of color, she highlights other women of color and as she examines their own narratives. She likes to think of her artwork as resurfacing untold histories to remind herself where she comes from and who she is. 

She also looks at the backgrounds of artists who have inspired her work. Yaneli’s inspiration has come from many local and artists of color such as Elizabeth Catlett, José Guadalupe Posada, Luis Genaro Garcia, and Emilia Cruz. Most of her work has been influenced by their storytelling and activism perspectives. Her inspiration has also come from personal experiences, cultural history, and indigenous philosophy. Yaneli’s body of work falls under diverse genres such as; women of color, identity, Chicano/a culture, Latino/a immigrants and narratives amongst others.

Yaneli considers her artwork “Chicano/a art.” However, her artwork also states the conflict of Chicano/a and/or Mexican American identity. She likes to think critically about the content and mediums that she uses in her artwork and challenges herself to explore new mediums. As she started using printmaking, she learned more about its significance of resistance to Jose Guadalupe Posada during the Mexican Revolution and among other Mexican printmakers. Yaneli likes to think of her creativity as a form of resistance every time she creates new artwork.

artwork