‘Magnificence Can Be Subversive’: Watch Artist Firelei Báez Reclaim Dominican Folklore in Her Richly Layered Work

An immersive sculptural set up on the Momentary in Arkansas will supply guests an uncommon alternative: to journey by means of time and area. The expansive work by Firelei Báez reimagines the ruins of Sans-Souci Palace in Haiti as if they had been rising out of the Atlantic Ocean, with the vastness of the sky and seas evoked by hanging blue tarps and a mural. The work will not be solely visually beautiful, however explores the historical past of cultural exchanges between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

In an April 2021 dialog with Art21, Báez likewise addressed the colonial historical past of the Caribbean, however this time on the extra manageable scale of the canvas, opening up about her experiences rising up within the Dominican Republic and her in depth curiosity within the area’s previous and wealthy folklore.

“I keep in mind at all times making,” she stated of her childhood. “After I was six, different children would have me draw out these very fancy ‘mariquitas’ [paper dolls] for them. I’d have these elaborate ball robes. They might at all times have very intricate hair. I used to be at all times coping with the physique.”

“One of many first causes that I needed to work on these work,” she stated, referring to a sequence of botanical-based canvases she was filmed engaged on, “was taking a look at among the first scientific illustrations of wildlife from the New World.” Specifically, she referenced the scientific strategies of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus: “A lot of his work was sheer nonsense. It equated the New World Black and brown physique with bestiality.”

As a substitute, Báez discovered inspiration within the misunderstood feminine creature Ciguapa, present in Dominican mythology. “The Ciguapa is that this trickster determine. She is a seductress. Somebody will probably be lured by her after which be fully misplaced and by no means seen once more,” she stated. “In studying my work of Ciguapas, I’m asking the viewer to come back to phrases with their very own emotions round a lady’s physique.”

“The normative tone of the story is these are wanton feminine creatures. They’re hypersexual and so they derail tradition. The understory is they’re extremely impartial, they’re self-possessed, and so they really feel deeply,” she stated of her most well-liked interpretation. “So who wouldn’t need to be that?”

In reframing such narratives, Báez continues to uncover new methods to “shift concepts of energy.” “In that course of, you shift the world round you,” she added. “That’s the place magnificence might be subversive.”

Watch the video, which initially appeared as a part of Art21’s sequence New York Shut Up under. “Firelei Báez” is happening view by means of July 16, 2023 on the Momentary in Arkansas. 

That is an installment of “Artwork on Video,” a collaboration between Artnet Information and Art21 that brings you clips of news-making artists. A brand new season of the nonprofit Art21’s flagship sequence Artwork within the Twenty-First Century is accessible now on PBS. Catch all episodes of different sequence, like New York Shut Up and Prolonged Play, and be taught in regards to the group’s academic packages at Art21.org.

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