DVAA Member since 2026

Graciela (Chela) Ixcopal

2026 dvaa Fellow

WEBsite: www.chelitasdesign.com

instagram: @chelitasdesign

About:

Chela Ixcopal (Moore College of Art and Design, 2018) is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, curator, danzante, book designer, and Bruja born in Princeton, New Jersey to a small, loving immigrant family with Mayan Guatemalan and Ecuadorian roots. Their work interweaves ancestral knowledge, spiritual ceremony, and collective memory to create healing spaces that explore cultural identity, social justice, and resistance. From supporting the closure of the Berks County Detention Center to co-curating Indivisible, a WHYY-featured exhibition celebrating immigrants of color, Chela centers art as a tool for liberation and transformation. As an educator, they nurture young artists through justice-centered, culturally grounded curriculum, while their spiritual practice honors the memory and survival of their ancestors. Chela uses he/they pronouns in predominantly white spaces and is flexible with he/they/she within BIPOC communities. Their work continues to challenge oppressive systems, uplift marginalized voices, and keep ancestral traditions alive.

Artist Statement:

As a multidisciplinary artist and Bruja, my work draws from my Mayan Guatemalan and Ecuadorian ancestry to create sacred, healing spaces rooted in memory, movement, and resistance. I use art as a tool for liberation—centering the stories of immigrants, BIPOC, queer and trans communities—while honoring ancestral knowledge through accessible materials, ceremony, and collective care. My practice exists at the intersection of spirituality and activism, calling on art not to decorate, but to remember, disrupt, and transform.