2021-2023: ‘Habana, Ciudad Lienzo’

oil on linen stretched canvas, 200cmx300cm

‘Habana, Ciudad Lienzo’ was an ambitious and deeply emotional project that I embarked on in December of 2021. I knew when I chose the scale of the piece that I wanted to build a sort of chapel, a physical homage to the women of my country. I reached out to eight muses, eight women of different professions and backgrounds, who would help tell the story of Cuba through different perspectives. There are four characters in the painting based on actual historical heroines of our history and four fictional characters.

A process photograph of my portrait of Laura Rivalta in her character of ‘Justice’. Laura was in the initial stages of her career as a lawyer at the time, and her ambition, elegance, and devotion to literature inspired my creative process tremendously.

To the left of the composition, Carolina, Jhayna, and Devon contend with the sunlight as it escapes from the window. Carolina is an academically trained ballerina, and her character initiates the composition as a metaphor for the creative will, or the need to make. Her hand softly extends as she brings the image into life.

The initial oil outline of a portrait of Naidelys Rodriguez in her character of ‘Juana Borrero’. This was one of the four characters based on a real historic figure. Juana lived a young and prolific life, leaving a mark as one of Cuba’s first female artistic prodigies. She was a poet, and a highly skilled painter. I recognized her intellect and fire in my friend Naidelys, who was kind enough to sit for her likeness. Juana’s body of work coincided with the establishment of Cuba’s independence from Spain, which makes her essential when tackling a retrospective of our feminine creators.

Detail of Carolina’s portrait, oil on linen