Commencement Exhibition

Operation Bootstrap

During the first half of the 20th century, home needlework was by far the largest manufacturing industry in Puerto Rico. Because average earnings were only between 3¢ and 4¢ an hour, many employers began hiring impecunious women. It was not until 1954 that legislative revisions were made raising wages in Puerto Rico. For such industries, a 25¢ hourly wage proved fatal and employers began fleeing the island. By 1960, close to a million Puerto Ricans had migrated to New York, forced off their island in part by the economic plan for industrialization and modernization of Puerto Rico, known as Operation Bootstrap.

Note: There are images beneath the mirrors that faintly appear as you walk around and look at the piece from different angels. The reflections on the mirrors are of my studio, including some previous pieces.

Operation Bootstrap. Oil on plexiglass, wood, mirror, & lights. 18"x54" April 2009

Enovid

In April 1956, the first trial of Enovid began in a impoverished farming town in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. The participants weren't informed that they were guinea pigs in an experiment to test the world's first birth-control pill. The tablet’s contained three times as much hormones as legally permitted today, and two seemingly healthy women participating in the trials died.

Enovid. Oil on plexiglass & wood. 20"x 72." February 2009

La Operación

Beginning in the years following WW I, the United States government initiated a program to control the impoverished population in Puerto Rico. Many physicians pushed for sterilization because they believed that other contraceptive methods were too complicated for lower class Puerto Rican women to understand. By 1965, such programs resulted in the sterilization of more than 1/3 of the female population, the highest in the world.

La Operación is a visual representation of my reaction to these appalling facts, and is meant to inspire interest regarding the issue.

La Operación. Oil on plexiglass & wood. 20"x 78." November 2008

MICA's Juried Undergraduate Exhibition

This year MICA's Juried Undergraduate Exhibition was juried by Jason Hughes and Jed Dodds. The show is currently on view in the Decker and Meyerhoff galleries of Fox Building, 1303 Mount Royal Avenue until October 26. My piece Yo soy Boricua was selected and is on display in the Meyerhoff gallery.

Hispanic Heritage Month Reception

I was invited to take part in the 2nd Annual Hispanic Heritage Reception in City Hall. Two of my paintings are currently on display there until the end of the month.


I attended the same reception last year, when it was a much smaller and more intimate event. This year I was surprised to see that the reception had nearly doubled in size, and that the artwork represented did not included many of the local artists who had participated last year. Mayor Sheila Dixon was there to give a speech with the assistance of a translator, and of course there was a live mariachi band to provide the entertainment.

Yo soy Bonita

In 2006, Zuleyka Rivera from Puerto Rico won the title of Miss Universe. Like many other contestants, Rivera had undergone plastic surgery to enhance her appearance and attain the desired European look. When interviewed by Fox News Rivera stated. "If we were to compete as a normal state of the United States you would lose the charm of the beauty of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican beauty is totally different from American beauty."

Soon after her throning, Rivera was criticized by U.S. sponsors for gaining weight and was forced to diet in order to maintain the Miss Universe title.

Yo soy Bonita. Oil on plexiglass & wood, 18"x84" September 2008