Ohio-based artist Catie Perez is currently working on her BFA in Painting + Drawing at the Ohio University. She began to teach herself art at the age of 8, at which point she knew she had found her passion. Thanks to a particularly encouraging art teacher in junior high, she decided she would pursue an education in studio art and art history. She has been in numerous juried shows throughout her undergraduate career, and was the recipient of her university's Presidential Award in 2021. She works in a myriad of media, primarily oil and acrylic paint, in order to immerse the viewer in her headspace. Drawing from her background as a lesbian and recovering Catholic, her artwork is autobiographical and transparent in nature. She views each person's life as a story to be told with total honesty, and that is just what she does.