Dalila Paola Méndez is a first-generation Guatemalan/Salvadoran queer artist born in LA. She creates works that combine contemporary imagery with sacred references to indigenous iconography, folklore, and knowledge systems. Fusing the new with the ancient, she uses painting, printmaking, photography, murals and film to visually engage in social justice issues confronting our diverse communities. She uses her art to interrupt the status quo and uplift the beauty, strength, and resilience of indigenous people, immigrants, lgbtq2sai+, and women. Across various artistic mediums, she creates a channel of communication between the ancient and contemporary, the rich interconnections found within and between cultures across time and space.

She received her BA in International Relations from USC, has been an educator for over 15 years, and is a trained Master Gardener. In 2012, the feature film Mosquito y Mari which she Production Designed was selected for the Sundance Film Festival and in 2020 became part of the permanent collection of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. In 2015, she was one of five artists selected for a US/Cuba Printmaker’s Exchange. She has collaborated with LAFC, YO-YO Ma’s Bach Project, HBO/Max, and NYLFF. Her work is in the collections of LACMA, UT Austin, UCSB, Alta-Med, MALDEF and private homes