braiding circles

braiding circles are community workshops and an immersive exhibition featuring hair and audio that ruminate on themes such as identity and representation and how these intimate stories comment on more significant systemic issues that affect BIPOC folx.

braiding circles has been an ongoing project that has grown since 2021.

In this iteration for 2024, I will bring this to the community with planned workshops at Maine Museum of Innovation, Learning and Labor (Maine MILL), Taller Puertorriqueno, Inc, Waterville Creates, Common Threads of Maine, Merrymeeting Adult Education Center, and Spindleworks.

An exhibition will culminate in July 2026 in the Ticonic Gallery at the Paul J. Schupf Arts Center in Waterville, Maine. 

The work's impetus comes from growing up and seeing my Puerto Rican dad unable to continue his culture due to white supremacy and colonization. I want his stories, which I will never get - so now I can glean others’ stories, and the culture moves forward. There is a longstanding tradition of storytelling in Black, Latinx, and Indigenous cultures, and I continue these traditions through these workshops. 

Workshops focus on braiding a three-strand braid and conversing about identity. The braid is a meaningful gesture in my work that represents connection. I take these braids and create sculptures. These monumental amorphous structures create a community with the accumulation of braids on its surface; the sculptures are a cacophony of voices.

The second aspect of this project is audio recordings. Speaking in these open and closed settings is essential to keeping histories alive and can help with feelings of loss, grief, isolation, and loneliness - especially in BIPOC communities. 

Working with these organizations will assist me in determining the stories that long to be told, give me space to host braiding circles, and connect community members.

braiding circles programming will begin in January 2024, and I seek to raise $60,000 for this two-year project.

The monies raised will be used as follows:

This is a project very near and dear to me, and throughout my artistic career - I have always wanted to create a project that not only brings the community together but shows that we have a voice and together, we can create a better world with understanding and empathy.