Futuro de Oro (2019)
Flashe paint on frosted mylar, 72” x 42”

In this painting of my niece, the design on the bathing suit is of Florida, Cuba and Nicaragua, representing her specific heritage. The background is of a beach in Florida.

Jóvenes Reales (Young Royals) (2021)
Flashe paint and gold leaf on frosted mylar, 63” x 42”  

Jóvenes Reales features two portraits of children I met at the organization Mixteca in Brooklyn, where I painted a mural and taught workshops in collaboration with Chashama. Mixteca offers a variety of programs and services for families in Brooklyn’s growing Mexican and Latin-American immigrant community. I chose to depict these subjects because their age symbolizes hope and the experience of being a new American. Their families migrated to this country with hopes for their future.  

The background combines imagery from Corn Island, Nicaragua and the sky is from St. Lucia–symbolic of the similarities and differences between Latin and Caribbean countries, each with its own history and traditions.  The flowers are Black Knight Canna Lilies, a plant native to tropical wetlands in North and South America. The plants are easy to care for and add vibrant color to their surrounding environments.

Joe Baker – Lenapehoking (2021)
Flashe paint and gold leaf on frosted mylar, 63” x 36”

Joe Baker is the executive director and co-founder of the Lenape Center and a member of the Delaware Tribe. He is standing in front of Lenapehoking, a term for Lenape land, wearing a traditional sash from the tribe. The shoes are Mayerswing, new Christian Louboutin boots whose design is based on moccasins. The florals are wild flowers, growing freely.

The Lenape Center is a New York City-based organization founded in 2008, dedicated to continuing Lenapehoking through arts, culture and community programming. After forced displacement from what is now New York City as a result of European settler occupation, today’s Lenape diaspora includes members of federally recognized nations in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario, Canada.

Brent Michael Davids (2021)
Flashe paint and gold leaf on frosted mylar, 36” x 36”

Brent Michael Davids is an award-winning composer and co-director of the Lenape center. He is an enrolled member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Nation. The landscape behind him is a combination of the Delaware river, Lenape land and paintings of the “three sisters” crops that were important to the Lenape people: corn, beans and squash.

Matrilineal (2021)
Flashe paint and gold leaf on frosted mylar, Figure 1: 65” x 44”

The imagery in this mother and daughter pair, depicted mid dance, combines traditional aboriginal ceremonial costumes from various tribes of different regions of North, Central and South America. Descendants are usually traced by the kinship of the mother’s line.

Matrilineal (2021)
Flashe paint and gold leaf on frosted mylar, Figure 2: 55” x 37”

The imagery in this mother and daughter pair, depicted mid dance, combines traditional aboriginal ceremonial costumes from various tribes of different regions of North, Central and South America. Descendants are usually traced by the kinship of the mother’s line.

Bluefields (2021)
Flashe paint and gold leaf on frosted mylar, 48” x 36” 

In this family portrait, the landscape is a night scene of Bluefields on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, where my father is from. My mother is from Puerto Cabezas. We are Miskito and Creole. My father speaks Creole. It is  common for the population to understand and/or speak English, Spanish, Miskito and Creole on the Caribbean coast.

Generaciones de Miskito (2021)
Flashe paint and gold leaf on frosted mylar,  48” x 36”

This portrait shows three generations of my family, descendants of the Miskito people. The background is of my grandparents’ home in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. It includes a combination of foliage from Nicaragua and Miami, Florida, where I also have family.

Miskito are found on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua and Honduras. Nicaragua was colonized by the Spanish and English, and as a result customs are different from coast to coast. Miskito people own our ancestral land, having been granted independence in 1987.

For the Leaders of Resistance (2021)
Flashe paint and gold leaf on frosted mylar, 77.25” x 24.5”

This portrait is based on researched images of Nicarao, an indigenous chieftain who resisted the initial wave of colonizers in the 16th century in Nicaragua. The imagery is combined with traditional aboriginal ceremonial costumes from various tribes of different regions, including North, Central and South America. His cuff includes the triforce symbol or three scales symbol, which symbolizes power, wisdom and courage.

Under the Breadfruit Tree (2021)
Flashe paint on plexi, 18” x 12” 

I painted my mother and late grandmother on her porch in Nicaragua, under the breadfruit tree. Originally from Southeast Asia, breadfruit was brought to the West Indies as a food source for slaves. The tree is now grown in Florida, the Caribbean, and from Mexico to Brazil.

Three Sisters (2021)
Screen print, glitter, spray paint and resin on frosted mylar, 24” high, other dimensions vary

Known as the Three Sisters, beans, squash and corn were three staple crops for the Lenape people who once inhabited the land surrounding the Old Stone House, and for various North American Indigenous groups. The installation also alludes to some of the native crops planted in the Old Stone House garden.