To have been broken is not to be irreparable. Iridescence explores the aftermath of sexual violence, highlighting the beauty that emerges in spite of trauma, as light refracts through shattered layers. Society today is faced with the constant stigmatization of sexual assault survivors and their ability to cope and heal. Over the years, the media we consume has conveyed a message of objectification and in turn unspoken support for rape culture when it comes to how a person’s body is portrayed--so much so that the issue’s prevalence has slowly developed into invisibility. We've created a separation between a body and the human being inside of it, leaving empty, eroticized shells to be consumed by the public eye. In Iridescence, the subject melts into the background, losing any semblance of herself, becoming an abstraction of an identity. But then, she builds herself back into a complete human again, showing the power of survivors of sexual assault--this power that rapists sought to strip away, but ultimately failed to do so.
This piece explores Cuban history through a lens of melancholy, revolt, and imagination, while highlighting the impacts and power that art had in the Cuban revolution, counterrevolution and post-revolution.
sembrando estrellas | la imaginación, la revuelta y la melancolía
mundialización, apropiación, cosificación, animismo
las generaciones no se forman en la voluntad de querer lo distinto sino en el ser de la creación
cuba era una fusión de los linajes humanos
un mestizaje que sirvió como un puente a excusar el racismo
sus culturas casi desaparecieron con el trauma cultural del colonialismo
creando el concepto de la necesidad de sangre revolucionario
racismo del estado que dejó una gran parte de la población excluida, silenciada y exiliada
los cubanos son gente de la tierra
no había distinción de la cultura y la vida
estaban sembrando estrellas
la independencia que ilumina y mata las partes del sistema que son derrotadas
cuba era estrella solitaria en el caribe
un modelo por toda américa latina
¿pero el progreso de la revolución era de verdad?
¿o las estrellas eran eclipsadas por las cometas dormidos que iban por el aire engullendo mundos?
para los europeos el nuevo significa la ruptura
pero para los latinos es continuidad
¿estaban diciendo o siendo dicho?
fidel era símbolo de padre y patria
pero la voz de nuestra mamá siempre estaba al fondo hablando del sufrimiento de sus hijos
melancolía | una pérdida que nos consume
no podemos escapar a nuestra derrota ni describirla ni analizarla
el objeto perdido contiene una parte de sí mismo
una melancolia por lo que nunca fue
una cicatriz que no sana fácilmente o completamente
pero la melancolía puede ayudar a salir de posiciones binarias
a volver a definir sí mismo
revuelta | un retorno a antiguos estratos psicosociales
una idea noble que termina con violencia
revolución política y revolución social son distintas
¿se puede hacer revolución sin violencia? debido al poder, tal vez no
pero revuelta se puede destruir sistemas de poder
los intelectuales tienen más oportunidades a cuestionar el poder
es un proceso complejo de su formación desintegrativa e integrativa
imaginación | la capacidad colectiva a imaginar realidades imposibles
el nuevo no surge de la nada
el nuevo es trabajar el pasado y dar nuevas definiciones y presentarlas en nuevas formas
dejando atrás el pasado, siempre inventando el nuevo
la memorización cambia a lo largo del tiempo pero también hay riqueza en este cambio
progresando hasta una mejor cultura
una balanza entre la tristeza y el logro
el arte sirve como apertura a criticar los sistemas de poder
la vanguardia tiene la capacidad de asimilar, sintetizar y renovar las formas
creando algo que el mundo nunca ha visto
con el cuerpo en un lugar central en su arte
ficciones somáticas
el poder cambiando de manos
apoderando nuevas voces, no ideas
permite la incorporación de las culturas indígenas y queer y las voces no europeas
muchas voces cantando juntos pero todavía puedes distinguir cada una
este ritmo sale en cada parte de la cultura cubana
el ritmo de las estrellas sembradas
empujando a través de la tierra
para alcanzar el cielo
sowing stars | imagination, revolt and melancholy
globalization, appropriation, objectification, animism
generations are not formed in the will to want what is different but in the being of creation
cuba was a fusion of human lineages
a miscegenation that served as a bridge to excuse racism
their cultures almost disappeared with the cultural trauma of colonialism
creating the concept of the need for revolutionary blood
state racism that left a large part of the population excluded, silenced and exiled
cubans are people of the land
there was no distinction of culture and life
they were sowing stars
the independence that lights up and kills the parts of the system that are defeated
cuba was a lone star in the caribbean
a model throughout latin america
but was the progress of the revolution real?
or were the stars eclipsed by the sleeping comets that went through the air swallowing worlds?
for europeans the new means the rupture
but for latinos it is continuity
were they saying or being said?
fidel was a symbol of father and country
but our mother's voice was always in the background talking about the suffering of her children
melancholy | a loss that consumes us
we cannot escape our defeat nor describe it nor analyze it
the lost object contains a part of itself
a melancholy for what never was
a scar that does not heal easily or completely
but melancholy can help to get out of binary positions
to redefine itself
revolt | a return to ancient psychosocial strata
a noble idea that ends with violence
political revolution and social revolution are different
can revolution be made without violence? due to power, maybe not
but revolt can destroy systems of power
intellectuals have more opportunities to question power
a complex process of its disintegrative and integrative formation
imagination | the collective capacity to imagine impossible realities
the new does not come out of nowhere
the new is to work the past and give new definitions and present them in new ways
leaving the past behind, always inventing the new
memorization changes over time but there is also richness in this change
progressing to a better culture
a balance between sadness and achievement
art serves as an opening to criticize systems of power
the avant-garde has the ability to assimilate, synthesize and renew forms
creating something the world has never seen
with the body in a central place in the art
somatic fictions
power changing hands
seizing new voices, not ideas
allows for the incorporation of indigenous and queer cultures and non-European voices
many voices singing together but you can still distinguish each one
this rhythm comes out in every part of the Cuban culture
the rhythm of the seeded stars
pushing through the earth
to reach the sky
Humans have separated our society from the natural world with our history of colonization, deforestation, capitalism, and agriculture that have left natural resources depleted and indigenous people that coexisted with the rest of nature violently displaced. The history of botanical drawings coincides with this history of colonization. The distortion and technalization of birdsong paired with the somewhat violent movements of these early botanical drawings are representative of these first acts of distancing ourselves from what we didn’t know, one of the most influential problems in our modern world.
When I'm underwater, time seems to freeze and a single moment can last for hours. The sound and lack thereof and overlayed imagery that I've captured over my lifetime represents the serenity and magic that water can create. I find the artificial light of projectors extraordinary. Beams of red, blue, and green light pass through a liquid crystal display composed of thousands of tiny pixels to create an image you once saw with your own eyes and immortalized with a camera. The lack of cuts adds to this sense of timelessness.
Men have been playing the 'hero' James Bond in movies for 67 years. In 2021, for the first time ever, 007 is not only a woman but a black woman! The franchise has such widespread influence over young people's minds, shaping our social norms and morals. The Bond Girls explores the role of women in our media, blending clips of our 'hero' James Bond being violent towards female characters with the distortion of one of my own photos. Sean Connery who played Bond from 1962 to 1983 literally encouraged violence against women in interviews saying, “I don’t think there is anything particularly wrong in hitting a woman, though I don’t recommend you do it in the same way you hit a man. You don’t do it with a clenched fist. You do it with an open hand. Remember that.”