User:Mruiz133/sandbox

Rocio Marie Cabrera
Rocio Marie Cabrera (born December 10, 1992) is a Dominican-American visual artist from The Bronx. Using mediums such as clay, acrylic paint on canvas, and making jewelry, she is able to portray messages about the importance of mental health, self reflection, and the experience of black women in America through her work. She has created a small business and brand called Rocio Art named after herself where she sells handmade jewelry, art prints, and clothing.

Life and Education
Rocio Marie was born in the Bronx, New York to her parents who immigrated to New York from the Dominican Republic. Rocio attended and graduated from Hunter college in New York with a degree in Studio Art. She always had an interest in visual art from a very young age but she never imagined she could sustain herself from her art. According to an interview conducted in 2017, she said she started selling her art in the subway stations in New York, it was then that she realized she could sell her art and thus, her career was born. Rocio works solely on her art and sells her prints, jewelry, and clothing on her website.

She is currently still living in New York and has been in doors since the pandemic with only partaking in events where she vends and sells her work.

Inspirations
Inspirations for Rocio Marie are artists like Tim Burton and the creators of Lisa Frank, a very colorful children's brand made popular in the early 2000s. She also talks about her mother being inspiration to her as she is also a small business owner.

Social Media Presence
Prior to the pandemic, and especially during, she has stayed in touch with fellow artists and supporters of her work through her Instagram stories/posts. She portrays herself as a bubbly person often making jokes about her daily adventures and current events but she is also very honest about her mental health on her page.

She does much of her promotion of her work on instagram and often holds sales/discounts on her stories for her work on her website.

Activism/Career
Rocio has been a voice of advocating for self love and mental health messages. Although she is not an activist in the traditional sense, she has helped and uplifted many with her art's messages. Many of her sculptures and paintings depict multi-colored girls that look sad or anxious with positive messages written on them. She advocates and brings awareness to mental health issues such as anxiety disorders, depression, suicide, and dysmorphia. Through her presence and large platform on Instagram, she has been able to speak to others about such issues and many have expressed she has helped them through their turmoil.

Her art, although colorful and seemingly playful and happy, also addresses social justice issues. Rocio' painting have often shown images and writings of her support for black lives matter and the general protection of people of color and members of the LGBTQA+ community, while mainly centering Black individuals.