B I O G R A P H Y

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Ayala is a contemporary painter whose work reimagines portraiture as a site of transcendence, memory, and self-reclamation. As a first-generation descendant of the Andean diaspora (Quechua and Aymara), her practice explores ancestral memory, cultural healing, and the enduring question of identity beyond inherited histories and physical form.

Through luminous portraits of Indigenous women from Latin America, she constructs ethereal spaces where the sacred and surreal converge, offering visions of dignity, sanctuary, and becoming. Working in both oil and airbrush, Ayala engages a deliberate material duality. Oil references the visual language of classical and religious painting, while airbrush functions as a personal and culturally resonant tool of remembrance.

Drawing from meditation, oral histories, and lived experience, she transforms authentic narratives into radiant figures adorned with intuitive patterns and symbolic forms. These portraits serve as embodiments of resilience, carrying forward collective memory while imagining new possibilities for healing and representation. Rooted in both personal and communal histories, Ayala's work seeks to create a universal visual language that speaks across generations.