This series presented 26 oil portraits created during and after a post-Maria trip to the island. As with most of my work, sitters sat for the painting process and were able to choose their clothes and poses. "Originally I wanted it to be a showcase of Puerto Rican diversity and a way to counteract the post-Maria victimhood narrative of the media.” But as the sitters talked, I got a good sense of how ordinary Puerto Ricans on the island have persevered the economic crisis engineered by the PROMESA oversight board. The concept of resistance became visible through their dress, the objects they chose, and their body language. Once I returned to the Bay Area and began painting first and second generation Puerto Ricans living here, it became clear how fiercely diaspora Puerto Ricans hold on to their identity and how important this identity has become as the island reevaluates its relationship to the US.

Island and Diaspora Resistance