Photographer Jay Mercado - Piipaash, Quechan Gila River Community

Jay Mercado is a recording artist and poet residing in Flagstaff, Arizona. A graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts, they are currently working on their first poetry manuscript. 

Jay records original music and performs under the name iiwaa. In February 2021 they released their debut EP of recorded music entitled Dysphoria, an account of journeying through religious trauma and gender dysphoria to find healing. Their latest release, Circadian debuted on September 10th on all streaming platforms. 

Jay is Piipaash and Quechan and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community.