Diego Garijo

Diego Garijo was born in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico, and smuggled into the United States when he was seven years old. He lived undocumented in the US before receiving his green card as an adult. Diego is a multidisciplinary artist, professional fighter, and drag queen who has been featured in a number of print, radio, podcast, and television news and feature stories, most recently in VICE magazine and on BBC radio. He has participated in almost all types of combat sports over the last twenty years, but most notably in the sport of mixed martial arts and bare-knuckle boxing, which up until recently had not been legal since the 1800s. Along with his fighting career, Diego is a lifelong artist. He experiments with many media and themes, but mostly focuses on abstract expressionism that explores the darker emotions of the human psyche. Another artistic outlet for him is his performances in the drag scene, where he uses drag to challenge the roles of the masculine and feminine and combat toxic masculinity.