As I started the latest series of work, Rumminations of the Tropics; I immersed myself into my birth place. The familiar, the cultural, its flora, its people and how this created layers that were not only physical but symbolic in my visual work.
What went in front of a work of art…, what was behind…; where did it all come from…, where was it heading?
The interplay of photographs, figurative drawings, botanicals, leafing and wood encasement; assisted the exploration of something inherent to my background and fundamental to my practice as an artist. I named these figures, ‘Curanderas Despanpanantes’, which translate to ‘Extraordinary Healers’. These fundamental forms come directly from my return to Puerto Rico and the revival of innate traditions that have been dormant within me. These forces of the Caribbean, with its colonial roots and tropical overflow of color, texture and meaning that manifest and guide their own representation.
Photography, Vellum, Leather, Silver leaf, Paper and Water base paint mounted on Walnut wood