Cotray is a multidisciplinary artist and native New Yorker from the Lower East Side of Manhattan. She first learned the fundamentals of oil painting in 2017 while studying fine art and double majoring in psychology. In 2020, she received her undergraduate degree with high honors from Hunter College— just before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down New York City. Her figurative painting practice was deemed as a form of art therapy to help interpret, express, and resolve inner conflict arising from the mundane scenarios of daily life.

Since then, Cotray has further developed her practice utilizing a diverse range of materials and processes— from spray paint to fabric scraps of her own clothing, even infusing photography into the work. Her most current figurations are somber yet vibrant subjects in the midst of a Self Awakening. For Cotray, the paintings operate as a journal or diary would, sharing her most intimate, present-based thoughts through visual storytelling.