Check Out Ana Gonzalez’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ana Gonzalez.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Art wasn’t something I stepped into all at once—it quietly grew with me in South Gate, California. I always knew I was creative, but I didn’t know where that would lead, or if it was even something worth pursuing. There’s this idea out there that being an artist isn’t a “real” career, but I’ve come to believe it’s one of the most important ones. Art changed my life in ways I never expected. It gave me purpose and a language to understand myself and the world around me.

But the turning point came when I stopped questioning whether I could be an artist and started simply being one. That change didn’t happen overnight. It built over time, shaped by moments of isolation, creative risks, and the quiet reassurance that making things mattered. At Santa Monica College, I found mentors and peers who challenged me to take my work seriously. I started exploring sound, video, and print alongside collage, realizing that each medium lets me express emotion in a different ways.

Even before I had a practice, I was collecting. Little scraps of life—notes, photos, pieces of time I couldn’t let go of. I think that’s what led me to collage and mixed media. That desire to hold on, to honor, to piece together what feels fragmented. Over time, my work became a way of feeling things fully. It explores the weight of emotions, like grief, desire, joy, and ache, without needing to be fixed or resolved. I move between different media because each medium lets emotions take a different form. I’m not looking for closure in what I make; I’m creating space for things to just exist as they are.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not at all, and I don’t think I ever expected it to be. Much of my work is rooted in that difficult path. I often explore what it means to live with depression, not in a romanticized way, but in its full weight. To me, it’s like a pit in the stomach that demands acknowledgment. I make art about the parts of being human that many people shy away from, the so-called “ugly” emotions like grief, numbness, or deep sadness, because I think there’s a kind of beauty in them.

I once wrote in my journal: “It’s an absolute blessing to be human. To be living and experiencing human emotions—whether that’s sadness, happiness, anger, etc. So I would do this all again, even if it meant going through the worst pain my body, heart, and mind have ever experienced.” That captures a lot of how I move through the world as both a person and an artist. Feeling deeply, even when it’s painful, is what makes life rich and real. My work doesn’t shy away from that; it leans into it.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m most known for my collage work—it’s where my artistic foundation lives. But lately, I’ve been expanding into new forms with that, and it has strengthened the emotional clarity of what I’m trying to say; it’s helped my message hit harder, no matter the medium.

This year, I’ve found myself returning to video work, and honestly, it’s become the medium I feel most connected to. There’s an honesty in it that I can’t always reach through other forms.
My most recent piece, everything, explores the world that was given to me—by that, I mean the people who’ve shaped me into who I am. It’s about presence and absence, about the marks people leave behind. The way I talk, move, and think all trace back to the ones I’ve loved, even if they’re no longer close. This piece is about that love that lingers. About longing. And the quiet ways we carry those who’ve mattered to us.

While my work is deeply personal, it’s also political. I know I have a strong voice. I’m not afraid to call out the injustices still happening around us.
As a Mexican-American woman, I’m learning how important that title is to me, and I’m working toward getting my voice heard, not just by the people who already understand, but especially by those who still don’t believe human rights should be a given. That tension, the desire to be understood in a world that resists feeling, is what drives a lot of my work forward.

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz & The Mastery Of Love by Miguel Ruiz

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dearwurld.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dearwurld/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dearwurld

Image Credits
Andrea Campo