These are facts about the Torreja’s life in no particular order:

Torreja was born near the fish in Lima, Perú, although the fish were never really her friends. They never spoke to her or showed any interest, so she ignored them as she had heard somewhere this was the best way to deal with these sorts of situations.

Since she was a child, she looked upon the fluorescent lights in her kitchen and wondered: Would she ever meet the marshmallow man? Torreja’s mom was crafty and made her a little cardboard home where Mónica would live most of her childhood years until she realized the home wasn’t real, the walls weren’t real and the T.V had limited programming.

Spontaneous waterfalls would burst from her eyes every afternoon for no apparent reason. She wondered why this happened and tried to find a large bucket, but no container found in the Supermarket could contain such vast amounts of salty water. So she focused her attention elsewhere: in the killing of time and money. Drawing became the best way to avenge the evil monsters that lived under her bed (she knew they lived there, though she never really saw them.) But dim light and generally poor drawing conditions made her eyes grow weaker, and the monsters grow uglier.

Torreja is still not friends with the fish, and she’s still trying to kill time and money with modest success. They are both stronger than she thought, but they are evil and they must be destroyed in the hopes of a peaceful existence, she thinks. Helping in this endeavor is her best friend Buddy and her kitty Shebe, which are committed to taking this murder to fruition and live happily ever after.

artist statement
My work is a constant pursuit to discover the alternative realities beyond the primitive perceptions of our existence. It is a search to know and to feel the impenetrable that is manifested through the beauty that is found in the asymmetrical, the grotesque and the true religiosity of the uneven in our human condition. My work tries to connect with the other-wordly, trying to attain insights into mysteries that transcend our human awareness as by direct communication with our intuition.

I am interested in exploring the idea of displacement and non-belonging as well as the existence of multiple perceptions of reality and a sense of alienation from it. try to recreate the sense of wonder and intuition we have as children. To this end I use the juxtaposition between real and dream-like elements, and in some cases through the usage of canvas-on-canvas stitching the elements are placed in an environment of alien and child-like mystic significance.

shows
03-12 "Esoteric beauty" – Group show - Space Womb Gallery - New York, NY

12-11 "Desenfranquiciados" – Group show - Lima, Peru

03-11 “Semblanzas de mujeres del mundo” – Group show - Queen Bee's Art & Cultural Center - San Diego, CA

03-11 "La hermandad art exhibit: "Mujeres de ayer… Hoy y siempre”  - Collective - Centro Cultural de la Raza - San Diego, CA

05-11 “Mujeres con corazon”  - Group show - Temporal en Casa de la Cultura de Playas - Tijuana, Mexico

05-11 “Mujeres con corazon”  - Group show - Queen Bee's Art & Cultural Center - San Diego, CA

05-11 “Abstractos de primavera “- Group show -Queen Bee's Art & Cultural Center - San Diego, CA

06-11 “Art around adams "- Group show - San Diego, CA

6-10 “My mind is a revolving door” Solo show- Bruno Gallery, Lima, Peru

12- 10 “Moments of being” – Group show - Space Womb Gallery - New York, NY

11-10 “Late la noche “– Group show - Lima, Peru

12-10 "Desenfranquiciados" – Group show - Lima, Peru

education
’09- ‘10 Art Students League - Drawing & Composition - New York, NY

‘05 Milton Glaser art program - School of Visual Arts - New York, NY

‘02 Digital Design - New York University - New York, NY

'96 - '97 Multimedia Design - George Brown College - Toronto, Canada

'95 - '96 Digital Design - George Brown College - Toronto, Canada

'92 - '95 Graphic Design - Toulouse Lautrec Art and Design Schoo - Lima, Peru