My BFA show proposal, Mi Coquí, is a series of mixed-media oil paintings that explore themes of cultural identity, displacement, and memory through a Puerto Rican lens. The project centers on three large-scale paintings featuring symbolic objects. An orange plastic chair, an open suitcase, and an abandoned family home. Each is layered with raised sculptural coquí frogs, fabric, and beadwork. The coquí serves as both a national symbol and a representation of endangered heritage, recurring throughout the works as a reminder of what remains and what’s at risk of being lost. These paintings are personal yet political, blending family history with broader issues like gentrification, migration, colonialism, and environmental crisis. Supporting the main works are four smaller canvases of myself as a child in Puerto Rico, further grounding the project in lived experience and cultural memory. Mi Coquí is a love letter to my heritage and a reflection on what it means to long for, preserve, and reclaim “home.”
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