The Artist

Xylina grew up in central Arizona, the product of a single parent household, sharing a twin bed each night with her younger siblings.  With the help of aunts, uncles, and more cousins than one can count, Xylina's mother eventually defeated the odds against single-parent families and provided her children with a home and what could only be considered a dream upbringing compared to the plight of so many others in our world.

"When all the children share a twin bunk bed, you become close," Xylina said.  "I think I was about thirteen years old when I slept the first night alone in my own room.  It was a terrifically lonely night, because all I could think about was all the people in the world who had so much less, and how much I missed my brother and sister, sleeping peacefully just on the other side of that wall."

Today, Xylina is a mother of two young, beautiful and lively children.  "Each day is both a struggle and a blessing," she says.  "In my art, you may find hope, strength, pain, joy, love, and most important to me, courage.  My drawings are a release of everything hidden inside me -- they are my poetry."

To contact Xylina, please direct emails to info@xylina.org, or in the US call (888) 8-XYLINA.

Xylina.org

824 S Mill Ave, Suite 104

Tempe, AZ 85281