Many great things happened during my time at the Nobles and Greenough school artist in Residence. Where I spend 9 weeks on campus, producing and engaging with the students and faculty on campus.
Image above was of my two day happening entitled: #InDarkness to commemorate the 1 year after Hurricane Maria Devastated the Island of Puerto Rico. The entire gallery was darkened and a 4 min sound looped inside- mimicking hurricane winds, silence of the eye of hurricane, hopeful sound of the coquies singing, and the generators that disturbed many at night. All in hopes to create an emotion and create empathy and understanding.The advance photo class collaborated with me in creating the collages of images documented of the devastation in PR. We talked about authenticity of the photographers, who was taking the photos, and whom & what was being presented through the images.
On site Paper installation of #InResistance
The Black and White Puerto Rican flag is seen as a sign/symbol of mourning and resistance.
according to google: It emerged from a group of artists on the island in 2016 to express a state of mourning the island has been experiencing since the US government imposed a federal control board with power over the commonwealth’s jurisdiction.
Black and White mark the approval of Puerto Rico’s oversight, management, and economic stability Act; also known as PROMESA. Signed by US congress and signed into law by president Barack Obama.
I made this flag as a symbol of resistance & mourning. It cries and bleeds as the struggle continues and devastation after hurricane Maria on September 20, 2017 made visible Puerto Rico’s Colonial Status.
This flag aims to remember La Ley de la Mordaza, 9 years where it was a felony to show or hold a PR flag.
This flag aims to remember those whom spent many months in darkness and suffer today due to the consequences of colonialism.
My self published book Puerto ameRican: The untold story of Pedro
Albizu Campos, Angel Ramos Torres & the U.S. aims to explore narrative
structures by recovering the suppressed or forgotten histories of my Puerto
Rican heritage. Violence, secrets kept by the US government, murder,
conspiracy, and torture occurred because of a large group of individuals wanted
to gain independence from the United States. I did not grow up learning about
this dark history and my personal family connection with the Nationalist Party
of PR, as it was silenced by fear for three generations. My book explores by
historical research and image making to share my family’s story.
#FierceLatina
series of 7 paintings celebrating positive Latina role models
Completed during my time at the art resedency.
#Fierce Latina showcases positive roles models, from
Engineers, to Activists to politicians, these woman demonstrate strength in a
society that makes visible stereotypes. Negative stereotypes that lead
discriminations, injustice, & barriers that exclude Latinx from
opportunities.
Patricia Valoy- Patricia is a Latina feminist activist and blogger, and a Civil
Engineer who promotes STEM education for women. She received her Bachelor of
Sciences from Columbia University, where she concentrated in Construction
Management and Structural Engineering. She
combines her experiences as a Latina, a feminist, and an engineer to advocate
and inspire girls considering careers in the fields of STEM and speak on
transnational feminism. Patricia’s work mostly revolves around the Latino/a
community, feminism, cultural identity, gender stereotypes, and workplace
sexism
Alexandra Ocasio Cortez- an American politician, educator, and political activist. On
June 26, 2018, Ocasio-Cortez won the Democratic primary in New York's 14th
congressional district covering parts of the Bronx and Queens in New York City, defeating the incumbent Congressman, Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley, in what has been described as the biggest upset victory in the 2018 midterm-election season. Ocasio-Cortez
is a member of the Democratic Socialists of
America and has been endorsed by various politically progressive organizations
and people.
Angy Rivera- is a leading activist for undocumented youth
and immigrant rights who lives and works in New York City. She joined the
immigrant rights movement in her late teens, went public about her undocumented
status at age 19 and started a popular advice column—“Ask Angy”—for
undocumented youth at 20. In 2013, she qualified for a U Visa (granted to
non-citizen victims of certain crimes). Her story is central to the film Don’t
Tell Anyone (No Le Digas a Nadie).
Sabrina
Gonzalez-Pasterski- By the time Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski (Cuban-American) was 13, she had learned how to fly a plane, built
her own aircraft, and flown it solo. Since then, the aeronautical wunderkind’s
academic career has similarly taken flight. Pasterski earned an undergraduate
physics degree from MIT in three years with a perfect GPA and is now a Ph.D.
candidate in physics at Harvard’s Center for the Fundamental Laws of Nature.
Sarai
Gonzalez- She made her professional acting debut at the
age of 11 on the Spanish-language "Soy Yo" ("That's
Me") music video by Bomba Estéreo. Cast
as a "nerdy" tween with
a "sassy" and "confident" attitude, her performance turned
her into a "Latina icon" for "female empowerment, identity and
self-worth". She subsequently appeared in two get out the vote videos
for Latinos in advance of the 2016 United States elections. In 2018 she
co-authored several volumes in a semiautobiographical chapter book series
for children aged 7 to 10.
Carmen
Yulin Cruz- is an American politician who is the
current mayor of San
Juan, Puerto Rico
Hurricane Maria lifted a
“veil from our eyes”, said Carmen Yulín Cruz, her broad smile and warm manner
belying the steely edge to her voice. “We are awake to our inequity – and our
inequality,” the mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital city of San Juan told the
Guardian on a recent visit to a political summit in Baltimore.
I was also able to do ceramics which I had not done in 10 years. This medium allows grounding in my art process.
I was able to meat with many students
An Amazing Experience! And Extremely productive.
