Born and raised in the Philippines, Patti began her studies in Fine Arts at the University of Santo Tomas before moving to Chicago in 1991 to finish at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. At that time, she had her heart set on becoming a famous fashion designer. Years later, her career took a sharp detour and, fast forward, Patti is now a psychotherapist in private practice. Her work is now a representation of that tumultuous transformation she experienced in the last three decades. While those times were turbulent, she considers those times a preparation for the body of work she has produced after almost a decade outside the art scene.