Paula Castillo, a Mestiza artist from rural New Mexico, creates intimate and large-scale sculptural and performative installations. Castillo holds an MFA from the University of New Mexico in 3D Studio focusing on Contemporary Theory, Ecology and Art in the Public Sphere. She utilizes the literal and symbolic aspects of home places to experiment with ideas related to the broader American Southwest to create allegorical narratives that imagine the immense complexity involved for any entity. The all-encompassing goal of her work is to reveal our deep connections to each other and our environment. Her material expertise includes recycled biotic and sculptural metals, steel, wood, paper, cast concrete and acrylic, and digital art. Her work, reviewed by publications such as Hyperallergic, the Washington Post, and the New York Times, is in various national collections, including the National Museum of Women in the Arts and the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. Castillo was recently awarded the prestigious New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts for her achievements and contributions to New Mexico. She is currently working on three permanent monumental public sculptures for the Denver Art Museum Campus (DAM) to build and install three unique art commissions, including a 72’L x 17’W x 22’H free-standing work overlaid with 4000 hand-forged stainless steel hummingbird-like feathers to be placed in front of the Libeskind DAM near signature monumental work by Claus Oldenburg and Beverly Pepper.