Elena Rios

Local Artist

Ríos’s art is, in part, an exploration and celebration of her Mestiza (mixed), and Azteka Mexika heritage expressed through painting, music, dance, and regalia design. Ríos’s art emphasizes culturally significant themes. She has been involved in exhibits and workshops at Self Help Graphics & Art in the heart of East Los Angeles, and has exhibited widely throughout California and the southwest. She has developed and directed cultural art programs for children and young adults. Ríos also weaves in her experience as a traditional Azteka Mexika dancer into her artwork, and helps design and create sacred objects and regalia for traditional use based upon her work with Pedro España Figueroa, an educator and leader within the Aztec tradition of Grupo Quinto Sol of Morelos, Mexico. Currently, she is at work on a poem with illustrations which will be presented in storybook form for children and their families called “La Casa del Danzante”, and is meant to describe the beauty and spiritual connectedness of ourselves to our environment and the universe within the context of the Azteka Mexika tradition. Passionate about sharing art with the community, she views it as a kind of medicine for enriching the lives of others, bringing people together, or even a way of bringing people to themselves through they’re participation in the creative process. 

The featured images are available for purchase as limited edition X(S)eriograph prints and one of a kind oil on canvas.

Please contact the artist with interest: elenarios1@aol.com.