braiding circles are community-built workshops and an immersive exhibition featuring hair and audio that ruminate on themes such as fractured identity, representation, and power and how these intimate stories can comment on more significant systemic issues that affect BIPOC folx in the community. braiding circles has been an ongoing project that has grown since 2021. In this iteration, for 2024, I will bring this to the community by working with the Maine Museum of Innovation, Learning and Labor (Maine MILL) in Lewiston, Maine, Taller Puertorriqueno, Inc in Philadelphia, PA, and with Waterville Creates in Waterville, Maine, Common Threads of Maine in Westbrook, Merrymeeting Adult Education Center in Bath, Maine, and Spindleworks in Brunswick, Maine,  beginning in early 2024.

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 my experiences growing up and seeing my Puerto Rican dad not able to enjoy or continue his culture due to white supremacy and colonization, even so far as cutting his beautiful afro down to accommodate the whites. I want his stories, which I will never get - so now I can glean others’ stories so they live on forever and the culture moves forward. There is a longstanding tradition of storytelling in Black, Latinx, and Indigenous cultures, and I want to continue these traditions through these braiding circles. 

As stated, braiding circles are workshops focused on braiding a three-strand braid from textiles and synthetic hair and conversing about identity, specifically through a BIPOC lens. The braid is a meaningful gesture in my work that represents connection. From this, I take the braids and create sculptures. These monumental amorphous structures create a community with the accumulation of braids on its surface; the sculptures will be a cacophony of voices. Here are some examples of the sculptures that have been created through this project.

The second aspect of this project is audio recordings reflecting the issues presented earlier. At these workshops, I ask folx if they would like to tell me a story to be archived within the braiding circles' universe. We schedule a time at their convenience, and I record their story through a private conversation with them. They also have the chance to record on their own if they like. They are then compensated for their labor. 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 immigrant and BIPOC communities. Here are some oral stories I have culled over the years that I hope to add to this compendium.

I want this work to reach community members -  folx like parents, immigrants, grocery store workers, farmers, and cultural workers. Places where people feel isolated, where folx do not ‘feel’ they have a story. I want people to feel and know they are no longer alone. l want this work to reach people on the other side of identity issues - white people who don’t understand why BIPOC folx feel this way. 

Working with the different organizations listed above will assist me in determining the stories that long to be told, give me space to host braiding circles, and connect me with community members who would be interested in this project. braiding circles workshops and programming will begin in January 2024.

All of these organizations hold immigrants, people with neurodivergence and disabilities, and people of the global majority at the forefront and use their spaces to not only uplift their communities and bring folx together but also educate the community about who they are and what they do. 

I will bring this to the public through free workshops at local community locations, open to all  - bringing the community together. 

The monies raised for this will be used in the following ways:

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.

Thank you.