About the Art
Bori's Art
Art has become an avenue for me to escape the everyday stress of prison. It allows me to explore fantasies, to be a curious child, and to look deep into my subconscious. But most importantly, it allows me to immortalize people and memories that matter to me. I love the idea of these memories living and bringing joy and pleasure to whoever views my work.
When I first started creating art, one of my goals was to capture childhood memories of my mother and me in the countryside of Puerto Rico. As I began to learn about the challenges the women in my family faced within our patriarchal culture and religion, I started to paint female figures as solid trees, beautiful flowers, mountains, and so forth. The bright colors allow me to draw the viewer’s attention to my interpretation of what beauty, power, and resilience emanate from a female body.
Art means so much to me. At the moment, it means reaching people from different walks of life, building relationships, and bringing attention to social issues. Through my artwork, I seek to challenge society's patriarchal lens of domination over women and marginalized people and bring awareness to the problem of mass incarceration. Using a palette of bright colors and surrealistic images, I protest the foul play of everyday living in a male-dominant society without using words.
At the same time, I'm able to tap into emotions that I have suppressed for decades during my incarceration and fantasize about making love or expressing love through the interaction of a hummingbird pollinating a flower or freshwater falling at the roots of a tree.
I intend to use colors and shapes to engage in an emotional dance of life and its many challenges and gifts.
Now that I’m home, I look forward to joining an art community that could provide me with a much-needed critique of my art-creating process and explore new mediums. I also enjoy videotaping myself creating art. When I see myself making art, it allows me to see myself differently and the change within myself.