Biography

In 1996 she enrolled and studied three years as an Artisan Ceramicist at the Atelier “Ceramica Creativa” with maestro Raul Mideros in Quito, Ecuador. After finishing her studies as an Artisan Ceramicist, she knew she had to take her studies forward and decided to attend college.

In 1999 Jimena studied for five years at the Pontifical Catholic of Ecuador in Quito and graduated as Bachelor of Fine Arts. While studying BFA in 2001 she enrolled in a course of wax portrait with maestro sculptor Stuart Williamson.

In 2005 Jimena graduated in Bachelor of Fine Arts at PUCE with the exhibit “Nosotros” (“Us”) featuring large format oil portraits of neglected elderly people in Ecuador. After that show she won a solo exhibit at IGM on March with the theme “Somos” (“Who we are”). Her submissions featured oil paintings with big formats of portraits.

That same year, she had two solo exhibits in Washington DC in April at the Ecuadorian Embassy and in September in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library. The show was titled “Another Look” featuring large format oil portraits that highlighted Ecuador’s multi ethnic society.

For the next several years she continued working in her owned artist atelier in Ecuador and worked doing interior design for apartments and setting up an art gallery.

In 2008 Jimena decided to leave her hometown in Ecuador and went to live in Florida.

In 2009 she worked as a Sculpture Instructor at Doral School of the Arts, in Miami, teaching teenagers and children. After interacting with students she realized that her other call in life was to teach young people. Not only does she love creating art, but she also relishes in helping others create it.

In 2010 she worked at Sips ‘n Strokes, in West Palm Beach, Florida, as an Acrylic Painting Instructor for adults. At the same time she was studying figure sculpture at the Legacy Art Studio in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with the sculptress Nilda Maria Comas.

In September 2011 she decided to move her career forward and decided to study Master of Fine Arts Program in Sculpture at the New York Studio School in New York City. Her education in NYSS pushed her to discover her own language in sculpture. Her artist professors were: Bruce Gagnier, Leonid Lerman and Garth Evans.

In May, 2012 she had a solo exhibit in New York City at Jadite Galleries, with the remaining paintings of her past and the sculptures of her present the theme was titled “Vivid”.

In May, 2013 she graduated from the Master of Fine Arts Program in Sculpture at New York Studio School. She has accomplished a sense of security and confidence in her artistic abilities towards contemporary art.

In May 8th, 2013 she had a MFA Thesis Exhibition with the theme “Underground”. The Exhibit was based on five tales from the book ”Woman Who Run With the Wolves” by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, an American poet, post-trauma specialist and Jungian psychoanalyst.

In 2014 she won three awards at Salmagundi Art Club in New York, NY. First Place Richman Sculpture Award, Henry O’Connor Award, and SCNY Sculpture Award.

In 2015, she lived in California and worked as an Art Instructor. Now in 2016 she relocated to live in Florida and is working on a body of work for future exhibits.