Early Openings

In 2006, Marie Enid Rodriguez Dominguez invited me to show my work in Cayey.
My first shared exhibition in Puerto Rico. “Tres Mujeres, Tres Artistas”

The exhibition brought together three women, three artists, and explored porous boundaries — between bodies, identities, histories, and ways of seeing. It was shown at Casa del Cuento y de la Historia in Cayey.

At the time, I didn’t know how foundational that invitation would be. I was simply responding to place, to questions of identity and boundary, and to the understanding that borders are never as fixed as we pretend they are.

I have always painted. But I have not always been out there showing my work.

For many years, my paintings have lived primarily at Las Casas de la Selva, my home, where visitors are drawn to the energy of the work and where pieces have quietly found their way into the world. The work has always moved, even when I wasn’t actively placing it within formal exhibition contexts.

Looking back now, I can see how much began with those early gestures. Not just public showings, but a deeper rooting. Moments of being seen and welcomed into Puerto Rico’s artistic and cultural landscape.

So much has unfolded since then, forests, collaborations, storms, commitments, but these exhibitions remain quiet markers. Early openings. Beginnings I am still grateful for.