Briana Mercedes Ortiz is a working artist born and raised in Miami, Florida. She graduated from Miami Dade College with an Associate Degree in Visual arts with an emphasis on ceramics and sculpture. Briana is currently completing her Bachelor’s in Visual arts degree from the University of Florida at New World School of the Arts in Downtown Miami.

 

Her work transforms discarded materials into organic forms. The focus of her sculptures shifts between the environment and the personal investigation of place and identity. Drawing connections to the environment and cultural identity. Briana has received the GSELS (Global Sustainability and Earth Literacy) scholar award form Miami Dade College for her efforts and emphasis on environmental issues. As a second-generation immigrant from a family that emigrated from Puerto rico her work investigates the aspect of Puerto Rican identity in relation to the United states as a territory through historic commodities including bananas, pineapples, and sugarcane.

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