Boricua Sankofa - a series of paintings

As a painter I have been working on a few different ongoing bodies of work for a number of years - one of which I began in 2015 after a study-abroad program I attended in Puerto Rico, is called Boricua Sankofa. The word Boricua refers to Borinquen, the indigenous, Taino name for the island of Puerto Rico, and Sankofa is a Twi word, meaning "to go back and get" or in my case, to reflect and bring forward.

The series consists of mostly acrylic pieces, many of which are more conceptual in nature than my typical figurative work. I return to add to this series every so often. Recently, I was inspired to create a new piece, Flag Me Down, and I realized that even though I have been working on this series for quite a while, I have not presented the pieces all together. So, I've decided to show photos of all of the Boricua Sankofa paintings together here, with captions to explain the basic ideas behind each one. 

Looking at all of these images together as one body of work presents a narrative around what it means for me to contemplate my own experience as a native New Yorker with Puerto Rican roots, as well as the sociopolitical history of the island. 

"Flag Me Down" 2020, acrylic on canvas, 11x14"
Having been inspired through the years by the work of some incredible contemporary artists using flags to convey multilayered symbolism - I've drawn on these images and ideas to create a painting about the Puerto Rican flag in four manifestations, all coinciding. The painting is called "Flag Me Down." As a daughter of the PR diaspora, I've been presented with the image of the typical red, white and blue flag countless times throughout my life, and at some point, started to consider it's meaning and symbolism. This led me to want to create a painting, presenting this image alongside three alternatively-colored flags, which connote multilayered meanings; from PR's political status as a US colony, the effects of La Promesa, and recent hurricanes, to ideas around being "Ni de aquí, ni de allá," and our intersectional racial identities, among other things.

I was inspired directly by the following works:

• David Hammons "African American Flag" 1990
• Grabadores por Grabadores "Flag in Mourning" 2016
• Tajh Rust "-nation (hyphenation)" 2016
• Miguel Luciano "Puerto Rican Flag" 2017

"Siete Potencias Africanas" 2018, acrylic on canvas, 11x14"
I was always fascinated by the tall glass-encased candles, readily available in NYC shops. Each color corresponding to a different spiritual symbolism, the rainbow-colored candles represent the Seven African Powers, a pantheon of Orishas. I thought about how the colors could also correspond to other energetic systems, such as the seven Chakras of the body.

"Basquiat's Crown and His Islands" 2015, oil and gold leaf on canvas, 11x14"
While traveling in Puerto Rico, I noticed many of the street artists had incorporated Basquiat's crown in to their pieces. I am a huge fan of Basquiat and it got me to thinking about how his legacy still captures the imagination; how many feel strong affinities towards him, and how often his crown appears in all sorts of art. Being a self-taught artist, a native-New Yorker with parents of Puerto Rican and Haitian descent - I wanted to represent his multi-ethnic background by showing "his islands"- with his ubiquitous gold crown dominating the foreground.

"Princess Charm" 2015, acrylic on canvas, 8x10".
This painting is a depiction of an actual gold charm that I own. When I was in Junior High School my mother gave me this gold charm as a gift - it reads "Puerto Rican Princess." I proudly wore it to school, but didn't know it would attract unwanted attention from schoolmates questioning my cultural authenticity.

"Cowrie Shell" 2015, acrylic on canvas, 8x10"
I've always been drawn to cowrie shells and find them to be beautiful. Cowries have a spiritual significance and are easily found in Puerto Rico and other Caribbean and Latin American countries.

"Puerto Rican Linguistics" 2015, acrylic on canvas, 8x10".
I painted this immediately upon returning from Puerto Rico. These are words and concepts that intrigued me when thinking about the island, it's history and political status. Hand written words float in the background while a blue shadow of a machete crosses the foreground.

"Soñando en Flamboyán Puertorriqueño" 2015, oil on canvas, 18x24"
While traveling in Puerto Rico, the Flamboyan tree's bright red pop can be seen throughout the otherwise green landscape. The Flamboyán is a typical symbol of the island. I created this painting about a girl taking a nap, curled close to a majestic Flamboyán, not just sleeping, but dreaming within it, as it blooms beautiful and bright with her imagination.

2nd Time Around - Openings Art Residency '19

As you may or may not know, I participated in the Openings Art Residency in Lake George back in 2017 (see my previous blog post here).

I was lucky enough to be accepted into the residency for a second time this summer. It was great to return to the gorgeous grounds of St. Mary's on the Lake - to the cool mountain air and sweet waters of the massive lake. The central purpose of participating was for us to be able to contemplate, discuss and create art. There were double the amount of artists participating in the residency (18 total) since my last time, which made for really inspiring discussions and a few artistic collaborations, too.

Most of us fell into a similar routine: eat three (hearty!) meals together, work on our art, take a dip in the lake and/or walk in the woods; often ending the day around a bonfire. Sounds idyllic? It was! I felt very fortunate. Just like the first time, most days I was inspired to go into the woods and paint the nature before me in plein-air. I also once again contemplated the eternal spirits and how their presence manifest in nature and our daily lives.

In the end, all of us did a Show & Tell presentation of the art we worked on during the residency (no pressure!). Some people had continued working with familiar styles/mediums and others experimented with totally new ones. I was really impressed with the array of work created by my fellow artists. (See a small sampling of pics below.)

Big thanks to Father Frank Sabatte, the Openings Collective and all of the artists in my cohort: Michael Berube London, Anthony Santella, Oksana Propenko, Eric Jiaju Lee, Brittany Maldonado, Suzanne Stroebe, Mary Younkin, Danielle Goldsmith, Amy Hill, Stephanie Quispilaya, Debra Jenks, Maia Nero, Leah Huang, Maria Negulescu, Elim Mak, Loretta Lomanto, Norma Markley and Laura Fayer.

For over 12 years, Openings has consistently created opportunities to build community among artists and establish creative dialogue through our meet-up events and exhibitions that are inclusive to artists of all backgrounds (International artists, artists of various religions, artists of color, LGBTQ). Our exhibitions also promote artists who, although are not well known in NYC, create compelling bodies of work that deserve recognition. In addition, we organize an annual artist residency at Lake George, NY, that continues to grow in participation by artists from all over who are seeking community.  

https://www.openingsny.com/ 

Morning on the lake.

The residences. 

My room.

Oksana spotting me...

Me spotting Oksana.

Nighttime bonfire.

The boathouse.

Eric and Elim on the porch/studio.

Michael and Leah working on the porch/studio.

Michael's amazing Adam & Steve dyptich (WIP)

On the lawn.

A drawing/study I made about the Egyptian goddess Nut (sky) and Gen (earth).

My little spot in the woods.

My painting of the lake.

A blurry swimming pic, with noodles.

A hazy day.

The lake and greenery.

Path down to the lake.

Looking out from the doc.

Show & Tell

Show & Tell

Show & Tell

Show & Tell

Show & Tell

Show & Tell

Fireworks over Lake George

One of the many meals we shared together (photo by Laura).

My Introduction to Social Practice and a growing PoeTREE

As an artist, I've always been drawn to painting, particularly. However, in the recent years I've also been drawn towards arts organizing, working behind the scenes, connecting with groups and individuals who use art as a vehicle for Social Justice, Cultural Equity, and Civil Rights. I've had the great privilege of being in the presence of visionary activists like Dr. Marta Moreno Vega (through CCCADI), and über-creative artists like Núria Güell (through UNIDEE), and many others. I was lucky enough to be in the right place/time to help build a group, Queens Creative Solidarity, and learn first hand from community organizers and artivists, working on many different projects, behind the scenes - and so it's spiraled outwards, and onward... Recently as an artist, I've found myself exploring Social Practice. 

Before I say any more about Social Practice, I'll offer what I think is a good definition, from the Tate website: 

Socially engaged practice, also referred to as social practice or socially engaged art, can include any artform which involves people and communities in debate, collaboration or social interaction. This can often be organised as the result of an outreach or education program, but many independent artists also use it within their work. The term new genre public art, coined by Suzanne Lacy, is also a form of socially engaged practise. 

The participatory element of socially engaged practice, is key, with the artworks created often holding equal or less importance to the collaborative act of creating them.

Socially engaged practice can be associated with activism because it often deals with political issues. Artists who work within this field will often spend much time integrating into the specific community which they wish to help, educate or simply share with. 

I say all of this to say: a few years ago, I had no idea what the term "Social Practice" meant, yet somehow, I was becoming involved in it myself. I often tend to serendipitously get involved in things first, only to look back and say, "Hey! That was an amazing thing I was a part of!" I by no means want to downplay the work of socially engaged artists by saying because I stumbled upon this work it's simple - actually Social Practice is something that can be extremely powerful; it's becoming more and more prevalent in the arts and cultural landscape, some universities are also offering graduate degrees in the field. Again, I just happen to be extremely lucky in being able to learn from folks who are doing the work, in real time. 

Being involved in Queens Creative Solidarity (QCS) and considering what it means to be "in solidarity" I thought it was a great opportunity for us to support another local arts group - Southeast Queens Artist Alliance (SEQAA) - in their inaugural arts festival. The event was called the SEQAA (C)art Festival, taking place at the King Manor Museum in Jamaica, Queens on September 1st, 2018. One of my QCS friends, multi-disciplinary artist Priscilla Stadler and I collaborated on an project to be included.

All of the works included in the (C)art Festival was participatory, and some were on carts (see list of artists and projects below). So, Priscilla and I came up with a fitting project called PoeTREE - the original iteration of which we did at the QCS art residency at Queens Museum in 2016. The second iteration of PoeTREE for the (C)art Fest was a cart holding a cardboard tree sculpture, which visitors were invited to "help grow" by drawing and painting on the branches and roots, making paper leaves and writing poetry, thoughts, memories, impressions about trees, roots and the Wood Wide Web.

Doing the PoeTREE with Priscilla was a great experience. We had a lot of fun actually building the PoeTREE sculpture at her studio beforehand. On-site at the (C)art Fest, the actual art-making was not up to us, it was up to the visitors. Lucky for me, Priscilla is well-versed in socially engaged art-making and knows how to make folks feel welcome and encourage them to participate. I'm usually a little more reserved with people I don't know, but following Priscilla's lead, I did my best at inviting everyone to help construct the increasingly-colorful sculpture. We ended up with a beautiful tree! Every branch, root and leaf decorated with the designs and words imagined by the participants, young and old. It was a fun and beautiful group effort, paying homage to the majesty of trees, (our) roots, collective creativity and communication.  

Here are some photos I snapped of the PoeTREE process, from beginning to end.

Constructing the PoeTREE cart at Priscilla's art studio.

Starting to set up the PoeTREE area at the (C)art Festival at King Manor Museum in Rufus King Park.

A bare PoeTREE.

Priscilla and me with a bare PoeTREE.

A real tree helping to encourage communication.

The PoeTREE cart and some visitors. 

PoeTREE artists at work. 

Priscilla and a young poet.

A very inTREEguing moment.

PoeTREE artists at work.

PoeTREE starting to bloom.

Leaf poets.

Beautiful branch illustrations.

Me :) 

Branching out!

"I'm a tree-hugger and proud of it!"

Budding artists.

Budding artists.

A group effort, "Live & Let Live"

Family tree, with my cousin and friend.

Watering the PoeTREE.

Closeup of some branches. 

PoeTREE with a smile.

Branching out! 

Final result of our colorful PoeTREE! 

Closeup of beautiful branches. 

LIST OF ALL (C)ART FESTIVAL ARTISTS/PROJECTS: 

ART&COM (featuring collaborators Thiago Szmrecsányi, Natalia de Campos and Tracy Collins): “COLLECTIVE BARGAIN”

Natali S. Bravo-Barbee: “Green Card Cart”

Reese Francis: “Black Cherry Jam’s Story XChange”

Jacqueline Herranz and Margaret Rose Vendryes: “Consume a piece of Cuba before … / Consume un trozo de Cuba antes que …”

Rejin Leys: “PulpMobile”

Shervone Neckles: “Creative Wellness Gathering Station”

Monica O. Montgomery: “Museum of Impact”

Queens Creative Solidarity (featuring Priscilla Stadler and Lorie Caval): “PoeTREE Project”

Elizabeth Velazquez: Interactive Sculpture

https://www.seqaa.org/ for more info...