Diego Melgoza Ocegueara, aka Melgo (b. 1993 Mexico City), is a Santa Barbara-based multidisciplinary artist whose inspiration comes from his Mexican heritage and Mesoamerican ideologies. His current work portrays familial stories and personal narratives through a variety of mediums (painting, clay sculpture, experimental video, sound, and art installation) that reclaim identity through a pluriversal perspective. His mission is to create quality visual work about environmental and social issues to create space for conversation and allow us to progress through knowledge. The artist had solo exhibitions of his work at the Community Arts Workshop in Santa Barbara, CA, and 24th St Studio in San Francisco, CA. His work has been exhibited in numerous group exhibitions and festivals, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, Art Design & Architecture Museum, California State University Long Beach SOA Gallery, Nepal Hall Gallery at CSU Chanel Islands, Community Arts Workshop Santa Barbara, University of California Santa Barbara Glass Box Gallery, Lucidity Music Festival, Joshua Tree Music Festival, and Lighting in a Bottle Music Festival. Melgoza received a B.S. from San Francisco State University in Apparel Design and Merchandising with an emphasis on Marketing. He studied Printmaking and Graphic Design at Santa Barbara City College and graduated with a Master’s in Fine Arts at the University of California Santa Barbara.
