Balsa Artifacts
1995 - 1999

The process of finding the appropriate research material is often as
interesting as the actual creation of a painting. In the summer of 1995, I
went to Miami to do some research for the Appropriated Memories Series.
While in Miami, I went to the library in Key West to look at their Cuban
archives. I soon heard about the work that was being done at the Cuban
Refugee Center on Stock Island. The Cuban Refugee Center
provided temporary housing for many Cuban immigrants who had
arrived to the keys on rafts. The Center also provided medical
assistance, food and helped the immigrants in contacting their relatives in
the United States. The Center also housed a small collection of rafts and
materials used by Cubans who attempted the 90-mile crossing. I had a few
relatives who had come to America on rafts but I also had a grandmother who
did not survive the voyage. The visit was very moving and upon arriving back
to my studio in western New York, I began “las balsas” series.

The vessels were portrayed in manner that would suggestive a sense of
silence. The work was presented as minimal altarpieces. I hoped that by
drawing in the viewer into the paintings, they would begin to examine the
vessels and then, perhaps, wonder about what might have happened on each
raft. It is unclear if the inhabitants were successful or not. Many of these
types of rafts and boats were found in the open waters off of the keys with
no one inside of them and no traces of what might have
happened.  These rafts have become silent remnants of great human tragedies.

Series contains 28 painting and 4 sculptures.