Maybe it was Lhasa's unconventional upbringing that has given her such a unique vision, or maybe it was always within her. Whatever the reason, she stands as one of the most idiosyncratic Mexican-American performers, fully aware of the tradition, but putting her own spin on it. Lhasa's mother, Alexandra Karam, was an actress and photographer, her father, Alejandro Sela, a Mexican professor teaching in upstate New York -- Lhasa de Sela was born in the tiny village of Big Indian.