Ariel Mercado is a Queer Afro-Bori Harlem based conceptual artist from the Bronx, NY. They investigate the boundaries of the immaterial and material world by exploring the intersections of poetry and visual arts. Their work centers around the domestic space, transcendental psychology, the diaspora, and the nature/quality of identity. They explore semiotics as a Black Bi-Cultural Diasporican through text based work. They also utilize ritual/performance and text as a medium to highlight the responsibilities of audiences to artists, consent, and trust. Mercado intends for their work to aid in creating tender and investigative intra-communal conversations.

They spend their weekends finding new uses for rosewater with their cat Zipporah.