For Evita Tezeno, becoming a successful artist was a more than a childhood dream. It was her only option.
"I had no plan B," she said, describing herself as determined to make this work. That determination brought her from her hometown, Port Arthur, to the big city of Dallas.
Decades later, her young aspirations are now a reality. Her collage work - what she calls "paper quilting" - is exhibited around the country and collected by Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson, among many others.
In 2023, Tezeno was named a Guggenheim fellow in fine arts.
It didn't come easy.
"I was a starving artist," she recalled.
Like many others, Tezeno said, she had to be recognized outside of Dallas, before being fully embraced in her community.
Her work is an homage to the quilters she grew up around. In fact, if you look closely, you'll find buttons displayed within each piece, selected from a jar of buttons her late grandmother left her.
Tezeno's work encapsulates memories, happy memories of from her time growing up in East Texas surrounded by her tight-knit family. Even though the memories are her own, her work still resonates with her audience.
"They say my work feels like a hug," she said.