B I O G R A P H Y

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Hi, Soul Family 🤍

I’m Vanessa. Ayala is my last name, my artist signature, and the heart of my brand. I’m a first-generation American with raíces Indígenas. My parents are from Ipiales, an Andean town in southern Colombia near the Ecuadorian border. I come from a lineage of strong women, five sisters, all deeply creative. Our father, a skilled woodcarver and carpenter, built much of our home with his own hands. Creativity wasn’t a hobby in our household; it was survival, expression, and love.

As a child, I was always drawing. I’d get in trouble at school for being lost in my imagination. Other kids would ask if I was an artist, but back then I didn’t know what that meant. Everything shifted when my sister helped me secure a spot at a performing arts high school in Kansas City. That moment changed my life. I spent my days studying painting, sculpture, and drawing, and my nights airbrushing clothes at the mall. One teacher saw something in me and encouraged me to apply to college. I earned a scholarship to the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

Living in a big city on my own was challenging. I was a full-time student juggling three jobs just to stay afloat. Over time, I began to feel disconnected. I left the painting program because I didn’t yet understand that there was a space for me in the art world. I pivoted into animation and graphic design, which eventually led to an internship at Goodby Silverstein & Partners on the “Got Milk?” campaign. I was grateful for every skill I learned but my heart never left painting.

After reading The Power of Positive Thinking, I took a leap of faith and moved to New York with two suitcases and a deep curiosity about what I was capable of. I rented a room in the Bronx, and slowly my work began circulating on social media through influencers, entrepreneurs, and creatives. Years later, I found myself standing in a full-circle moment, giving an artist lecture for an art college. A student from Guatemala approached me and shared that it was the first time she truly felt seen in that space. That moment reminded me why I do this.

I thought about teenage me, searching for community, belonging, and representation. To now be able to offer that to another young artist is an honor I don’t take lightly. I am deeply grateful to have found purpose through my work. As a proud daughter of immigrants, I use my God given gifts to illuminate faces, stories, and voices that are often silenced. It is both a responsibility and a blessing to take up space, tell our stories, and inspire empowerment in others.

Thank you so much for being here and supporting this mission together.