June 2024
Watch a video of this newsletter.
I moved to Borikén a few months ago.
(Borikén- or Borinquen- is the Taino name for “Puerto Rico.”)
It took me 15 years and several tries, but here I am now. Many, many generations of my family were born in this particular area of the island, and I feel deeply inspired and connected here.
I've spent the last few months starting to observe how our indigenous stories play out in the nature and weather and people every day… and processing that personally but also allowing the experience of those observations to become something new. I've been drawing since the moment I landed, and I'm excited to begin sharing those things with you.
This month I'm working on adding prints, greeting cards, and stickers to the website, and I'm planning on adding new work each month.
Image description: A collage of four stickers- 2 square and 2 circles alternating- on a yellow and green gradient background. The two circle stickers have skulls decorated with Taino imagery and use turquoise and purple palettes. One square sticker features a blue heron, frog, and a fish in a night scene. The other square features a mother manatee and her baby in a mangrove.
Summer Collection: KOKUYO
And next month I'm releasing a new limited collection called KOKUYO, which is the Taino word for firefly.
I don't know anyone who doesn't think fireflies are pretty magical, but for me and the timeline of my life, my memories of them kind of serve as an access point to moments prior to trauma. Not as a harbinger, but as an embodiment of the state of being prior to the trauma. I can go sit in those memories when I need to. Fireflies are important symbols in many cultures. I'm looking forward to learning if they have any particular memory or meaning to you.
Moving forward, I’m going to be including a link to a video version of the newsletter which I’m planning on sending out once a month. The information in the video and email will pretty much be the same. I just wanted to provide
another way of engaging with the information
a look at the references I'm using to make my art
and some of the nourishing sensory experiences that inform and inspire me. I hope you enjoy the little sensory vignettes!
Since these videos are just for you, they will be unlisted on YouTube, but you’re welcome to share them with people you know who are interested in seeing indigenous art and animation made in Borikén/Puerto Rico. English and Spanish captions are included in the videos.
🇵🇸 I know a lot of us are having our hearts ripped out of our chest every day knowing what's happening to our family in Palestine. I hope you've had the strength to take whatever action on their behalf that you have the capacity to.
41 Ave Fernando L Ribas #458 Utuado, PR 00641