With a portfolio career, as a curator + author + sexual culturalist, my profound curiosity in the human animal is rooted in my background in Anthropology. With a focus on gender, my interests have brought me everywhere from archaeological sites in Mexico, the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii, a think tank in Venezuela, as well as chapters at cultural institutions such as El Museo del Barrio (NYC), Kindred Studios (London), and the truly unique Museum of Sex (NYC), where I served as Curator for more than a decade. My first book and memoir, "Sex in the Museum" charts not only the more than 20 exhibitions I curated, but also the personal side of working in the field of sexuality. I am currently writing my second book, "Mama Sex," an anthropological look at motherhood and sexuality.
I'm based in Portugal, but London, New York and Flagstaff, Arizona have been previous hometowns.
HOW DO YOU EMBRACE DIVERSITY AND/OR UNCONVENTIONALITY?
In many ways it feels like my whole life has been about inhabiting the unconventional. As a little girl with mixed heritage (my dad's family is Mexican, my mother's family is Eastern European), I always existed on the liminal edges of identity. Betwixt and between has been my north star. This feeling led me to anthropology, a methodology of understanding myself and the diverse wide world better. Later, my work in sexuality pushed many conventional boundaries and I continue to push society's taboos with my work on motherhood and sexuality.Â
HOW DO YOU EXPRESS YOURSELF CREATIVELY?
I love the act of "making" in all descriptions: from exhibitions, meticulously handmade costumes to events that bring people together. As a curator I have been so fortunate to be able to able to merge both my academic and design creativities in one arena. In my personal life I derive huge pleasure by bringing people together through travel and through showing my children my version of the world. One day when my life calms down, I hope to be that old lady happily sat with an easel and paints, a pleasure that once dominated by life.
HOW DO YOU THINK YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THE COMMUNITY? WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU ARE AN EXPERT IN AND COULD GIVE ADVICE TO THE COMMUNITY ON?
As a multifaceted person, I hope to be able to give as both a professional (those interested in sex, identity, culture and history) and as a woman who has been navigating moving around the world as an expat mother. It has been my experience as a mother, one who aims to nurture all the other aspects of self that have been my greatest journey.
SHARE A VERY VALUABLE INSIGHT YOU DERIVE FROM YOUR PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE WITH THE WORLD: