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Francisco Daniel Cabrera (Mijo)
Francisco Daniel Cabrera (born 1989), affectionately known as Mijo, is an Ecuadorian-American artist based in Springs, New York. He is known for his use of thermal materials and exploration of Latinx identity through his art.

Early Life
Francisco Daniel Cabrera was born in 1989 in Cuenca, Ecuador. He moved to The Hamptons, New York, in 2009, where he continues to live and work.

Achievements
In 2019, Cabrera was referred to as a "young Picasso" due to his artistic and personal vibe, and his innovative use of unexpected materials. In March 2024, he was listed as one of the top Hamptons Creators to follow on social media.

Selected Exhibitions
In 2024, Cabrera is presenting a notable solo exhibition for his series "Chemical (Paradise)" at Duck Creek Arts Center, which has been widely covered in the art media. His work was featured in the 2023 exhibition "Somos: We Are Latinx Artists of Long Island" at the Long Island Museum. In 2019, the work he completed as an artist-in-residence at Southampton Arts Center was exhibited to the public.

Receipt Paintings Series
Cabrera embarked on this series in 2015. While employed at a gas station in Amagansett, NY, a seemingly mundane interaction—a customer's payment—unveiled an unexpected discovery: the compelling transformation of color on a receipt, caused by accidental smears of hand sanitizer. Captivated by this phenomenon, Cabrera brought the idea home, weaving rolls of receipt paper into larger sheets. By activating the thermal material with chemicals and pigments, he unveiled imaginative, colorful realms beneath apparently homogenous white surfaces. Blending surrealism and abstract expressionism, the chemical reactions become the excretions of mental free associations, guiding them to unveil the underworlds and hierarchies of "hidden paradises." As it is revealed through a slurry of unnatural reactions on receipt paper, the distortions seem to culminate in what might be seen as a vision of an American Dream, sickened by chemicals. Through his choice of materials, viewers are prompted to contemplate the co-dependence of humans and chemicals in contemporary American life, and the concealed existences that lay beneath the surface of those residing in an 'American Paradise' with those who seek it through immigration.

Photography
In 2012, his photography was showcased in "The Inner Lense," exploring the notion of self-voyeurism through the lens. He has also shown in PhotoManhattan.

Teaching and Public Speaking
In 2012, Cabrera participated in the Neoteric Gallery Symposium, discussing the Quechua language and culture.

Residencies
During 2019, he was an artist-in-residence at the Southampton Arts Center, where he operated a pop-up studio within the public gallery space, focusing on the creation of new solo pieces.

Media Appearances
In 2019, Cabrera appeared in the PBS series "All Arts Doc" in the first episode, which aired on June 26, 2019. In 2021, he was featured on an episode of "Interesting People on Long Island".