Eliseo Casiano’s work reflects his experiences growing up Chicano in the rural south. He uses painting and collage to re-contextualize family stories that grapple with social stratification and dominant perceptions of racial difference. His work satirizes the bleak and brutal ideologies underpinning the concept of “Americana’ by drawing on family photographs and pop culture imagery. He explores the dissonance between his Tejano heritage and his continual aspiration to feel normal in a white space. He is an Oklahoma native with a BFA in painting from East Central University, and is currently pursuing his MFA at Louisiana State University.