In my work I connect my physical body and place to concepts of memory, family,and cultural tradition primarily through performance, video, and installation. My work is an extension of my home that shares comfort and pleasure, while negotiating geographical distance and (dis) connections with my family and cultures of origin – the Dominican Republic, Italy, and the United States.

Within my reconstructed bohío¹, adorned with a mixture of borrowed decorative objects that represent my family’s diverse heritage, I have hosted peers for dinner using my Nonna’s pasta recipe. I’ve also set up a private performance with my mother, Baile con Mi Madre de Larga Distancia ², in which we dance with each other through facetime to bridge the divide between where we come from and where we are now in our long-distance relationship. In other performances that are not particularly confined to my bohío, such as Live Translations and Foods That My Parents Like that I Really Do Not, I play with language and cultural translation through music and taste. In these interactive performances, I engage with the audience in an effort to navigate between cultural differences that are difficult and biased while simultaneously funny and entertaining.

As I recognize critical elements of culture that will never be fully transmittable, and I reconcile the elements of my family and culture that feel more distant, the work becomes an attempt to understand the essence of diversity and multiculturalism starting with the experiences closest to me.