Dexi M. was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, and raised in Caracas, where color, music, and dance were part of everyday life.
Before she became a painter, Dexi was a designer. In Caracas, she built a wholesale fashion business that supplied upscale shops throughout Venezuela. She later created a sweater company featuring her own designs, then founded an interior design firm specializing in high-end residential and commercial spaces. She spent years considering how a room should feel.
Dexi came to the United States in 1989 and lived in Miami before moving to Savannah, Georgia, in 2016. Decorating her own home brought her back to working with her hands, and the paintings soon followed.
Her work is best described as Venezuelan folk art blended with modern and whimsical influences. Working in mixed media, she creates figures in elaborate dresses and ornamented hairstyles, incorporating hand-molded and painted cold-clay elements, saturated color, and patterns drawn from the textile world where she spent much of her career.
Every piece is painted by hand in her Savannah studio.