Dominican-Jamaican artist born and raised in NYC.
Parallel to building connections to my Caribbean heritage, my work is a continuous reflection of island spirituality. Deeply-rooted religion has brought my communities much joy and hope, as well as much pain. I seek to create in appreciation and an acknowledgment of the complexities of such experience. I call my process a "devotional practice”— through physical labor and detail-oriented processes, I reflect upon the experience of a devoted, pious lifestyle. Metal is my companion in most of my creations; with the time and ability to manipulate such an eternal material, through arduous systems of cutting, welding, etching, and carving, I immortalize objects and sentiments abstracted from personal and cultural experiences.
In my personal journey to discover individual faith, I’ve understood the physical form to be very connected with the spirit—for this reason, the body, both in good health and illness, has taken a large role in informing my sculpture and illustration. Thus, I focus heavily on the concept of adornment within my body of work. In adorning, there is a recognition and an honoring of the body. In my own experience of decorating the physical body, with jewelry, charms, or wearable sculpture, I find such practice to be an intersection of the physical and spiritual. Beyond my personal experience, jewelry is utilized around the world, not only as a beautifier, but as a bearer of divinity, protection, and good fortune. With this in mind, I seek to incorporate visual elements of jewelry in my work; if not to adorn the body, my work is made to adorn the space.