“Uzumaki” Cepeda (Bronx-born, Los Angeles-based) makes sculptures, paintings, installations, collages, and photography that examine how senses of safety, comfort, and agency are negotiated through objects and space.

As a first-generation American woman of Dominican heritage, Uzumaki’s textile tableau act as safe spaces for Black and Brown people, while also addressing the stigmas of homophobia, transphobia, racism, and colorism that often affect queer people and women who feel unprotected by American public life and policies. Her practice consists of transforming everyday, often found objects with brightly-colored faux fur to create interactive installations informed by traditional iconography of domestic spaces. Uzumaki’s dream-like and vibrant work draws from her childhood imagination growing up both on the islands of the Dominican Republic and in the Bronx.

Uzumaki Cepeda’s interactive installations have been shown at the Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA (2018); Contemporary Native Art Biennial, Art Mûr Montréal, Canada (2018); Agenda Show, Los Angeles, CA (2018); Reparations Club Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2019); Complex Con, Long Beach, CA (2016 and 2019); and Refinery29’s 29Rooms (2019).

She has been featured in print and digital publications including Forbes, Teen Vogue, Paper, NYLON, i-D, Hypebae, L.A. Weekly, and The Fader.