Diego Torres-Casso is a third-generation U.S.-born Mexican artist whose research is rooted in the histories they grew up hearing—stories shaped by deportation, discrimination, assimilation, and resistance. These narratives, often absent from official records, have driven their desire to understand how history is constructed, remembered, and erased. As a queer brown artist, he uses his own body as material to examine how identity is measured, disciplined, and read within American landscapes. At the core of their practice is an effort to assert existence, both their own and that of their community, while challenging the assumption that historical records are complete or definitive.
Torres-Casso is currently an MFA Candidate at the University of Minnesota. He received his BA in Fine Art and BA in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz and his AA in Sociology from Mount San Antonio College.
Education
Expected 2029. Masters of Fine Art — University of Minnesota
2019. Bachelor of Arts, Art — University of California, Santa Cruz
2019. Bachelor of Arts, Sociology — University of California, Santa Cruz
2017. Associate of Arts, Sociology — Mt San Antonio College
Group Exhibitions
2026. Significant Figures. Baby Steps Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2024. ASCO: A Call to Response Acts of Protest from Chicago to Los Angeles. Pilsen Arts and Community House. Chicago, IL
2023. Looking Glass. Truly LA, Los Angeles, CA.
2022. Soy Artista. Self Help Graphics. Los Angeles, CA
2020. Děkuji. Eduardo Carrillo Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA
2019. Picking up the Pieces. ArtMill, Horažďovice, Czech Republic
2019. Reading Room: After Archives. Sesnon Underground, Santa Cruz, CA
2019. Headspace: A POC Universe. Sesnon Underground, Santa Cruz, CA
2018. PRIDE. Santa Cruz Art League, Santa Cruz, CA
Solo Exhibitions
2019. Visualizations of my Imagination. Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, Santa Cruz, CA
2019. Welcome to Hell. Sesnon Underground, Santa Cruz, CA
Fellowships & Residencies
2026. Fellow, Queer|Art, New York, NY
2024. Summer AIR Resident, ArtMill Center for Regenerative Arts, Horažďovice, Czech Republic
Artist Talks & Panel Discussions
2025. Lecturer, The Pedagogy and Practice of Las Fotos Project, Society for Photographic Education, Riverside, CA
2025. Panelist, On Photography & Community, California State University, Long Beach
2024. Artist Talk, Las Fotos Project, Los Angeles, CA
2024. Panelist, ASCO: A Call to Response: Acts of Protest from Chicago to Los Angeles, Chicago Humanities Festival, Chicago, IL
2022. Artist Talk, Intro to Photography, University of California, Santa Cruz