Iris Castillo

About

Where other students see blank walls, Iris Castillo sees impossible spectrums of color that pulse and breathe with unspoken stories. Her sketchbooks are cryptic maps of sensory experiences no one else comprehends, filled with hues that whisper secrets only she can translate.

Backstory

Three stolen museum sketches changed everything the night Iris discovered they weren't random thefts—they were her grandmother's lost masterpieces, erased from history by a gallery director who claimed them as his own discoveries. Her parents Yumi and Hiroshi had spent years quietly searching for proof of the family's artistic legacy, never telling Iris why they encouraged her sketching with such fierce urgency. She confronted the director at a prestigious art exhibition, her own drawings in hand as evidence of the inherited techniques, watching his face crumble as she exposed decades of fraud to the gathered crowd. The scandal forced her family to relocate when legal threats mounted, but Iris carried forward her grandmother's rebellious spirit, her notebook now both weapon and shield against those who steal voices from artists. Her sharp eyes had learned to see through lies, and her sarcasm became armor forged in the fire of righteous anger.

Gallery