Memories of COVID-19: The LatinX Greater Boston Arts Project

MEMORIES OF COVID-19: THE LATINX GREATER BOSTON ARTS PROJECT EDITED BY GONZALO BACIGALUPE, JESSICA KARCH AND MARÍA CELESTE LUNA

MEMORIES OF COVID-19: THE LATINX GREATER BOSTON ARTS PROJECT

The LatinXArts team is grateful to the individuals and organizations who shared our call for artists with their communities. We particularly appreciate the trust given by those artists who responded to the call and shared their experiences and expertise. Their commitment and enthusiastic participation during this process has been essential, and we are humbled to share their experiences and their art.

This project was made possible with financial support from an Innovation Grant by the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education to the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy and its partnership with Bunker Hill Community College to advance Latinx student success.

Copyright © 2021 Selection and editorial matter, Gonzalo Bacigalupe, Jessica Karch, María Celeste Luna; individual pieces and descriptions, the contributors.

ISBN 978-0-578-92431-1 Edited by Gonzalo Bacigalupe, Jessica Karch and María Celeste Luna Cover art Masked by Layra Cintrón-Rivera Back cover art An Ocean of Data by Gonzalo Bacigalupe Layout by María Celeste Luna Boston, Massachusetts

Art expression can serve the purpose of inscribing and memorializing our deepfelt experiences. COVID-19 and the political turmoil of 2020 impacted us all. This art catalog aims at capturing the Latinx experience in this period.

When we sought out to put this product together for the Latinx Arts Project, we invited artists to make sense of these experiences to help us archive and give meaning to their experiences, ours, and hopefully those of the diverse Latinx communities in the Greater Boston Area and beyond.

Living through COVID-19 can be traumatic, instilling the loss of memory. We need to capture this moment so we do not forget. This book intends to capture the collective experience of the epidemic--the anger, depression, exhaustion, grief, and isolation, but also the hope, resilience, and strange sense of community that mutual isolation brings. The pieces collected here capture these different aspects of the experience of COVID-19. Many of our artists speak to the experience of physical separation from loved ones in other countries; some focus on the racial reckoning that occured in June of 2020 after the murder of George Floyd; and others explore their own psychological and spiritual worlds . Creating art can be a process of making these emotions and experiences visible, promoting collective healing and inviting the viewers to reflect on their own experience in each piece of artwork. Therefore, we hope that the art pieces enter into a dialogue and create a meaningful collective memory of this difficult period.

Times of crisis spur creativity and hope. To heal the damage, we need to build a society that is more prepared to take care of all of us when a crisis occurs. It would be tragic if again our stories and what we create are so traumatic that they are forgotten and not remembered. The virus and the measures to contain, survive, and bear witness to the loss of life from the contagion ignited the art expressions among the artists in this catalog. Each piece is accompanied by a statement from the artist themselves, reflecting on their experience of COVID-19.

-LatinxArts Boston Team

1

Lucia Andrade life in this moment during a pandemic digital photo and collage

4032 x 1960 pixels In moments when the sky is a vibrant palette of hues and silence is the collection of voices from nature, my memories rise and pass like scenes on a movie screen. Peace and nostalgia are at their best. Life in This Moment During a Pandemic depicts that exact process and more specifically, my reflection on personal memories during COVID-19. The fleeting memories allude to moments during the pandemic (viewing sunsets, photographing nature, and cooking cultural meals) that highlight the beauty of life, connection, and hope. The memories lead up to my loved ones, who hold a special place in my heart and are present during my reflections. During this pandemic, I have experienced the power and importance of love, family, and faith and they will continue to carry me forward.

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Gonzalo Bacigalupe virus acrylic, watercolor and ink

9.5 x 7.5 inches

Two Halves shows what looks to be two different faces. I used different colors to distinguish each half (red and blue), but they are the same face. I drew a face on paper, cut it down the middle, traced it on cardboard, and painted each side with acrylic.

I live in Chelsea, MA which continues to have a high rate of COVID-19 infections with more than 3,000 confirmed cases.

With so many, it is easy to see people as the enemy that we need to protect ourselves from. But even so, there has also been a lot of kindness in our community, with people helping each other by making masks for their neighbors or giving out boxes of fruits and vegetables on Broadway. With Two Halves, I hope to show how on the surface we may appear to be different people, but we are two halves of one whole.

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Daniliz Capellán Pichardo two halves acrylic, marker and cardboard

24 x 17.5 inches

Devastation aims to capture the initial feelings surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. At the start, COVID-19 was enigmatic but pervasive. COVID-19 plagued our conversations, news, social media, etc. At the time, I felt as if there was no escape from COVID-19 rhetoric and its emotional impact. As time progresses and we adapt to this new way of life, there may come a point we forget the ubiquitous fear and devastation COVID-19 brought into our communities. Through art we can capture and remember these times.

Layra Cintrón-Rivera devastation acrylic paint

8 x 5 inches

COVID-19 has been insidious in nature; the virus has affected communities worldwide. Infected aims to reflect the destructive nature of the virus to both our physical and emotional health.

Layra Cintrón-Rivera infected acrylic paint

8x5

inches

The COVID-19 pandemic has led the world into a new, distinct, and often unrecognizable status commonly referred to as the “new normal.” Self-Isolation explores my personal experience adapting to the new normal as a student, scientist, and Puerto Rican living in the continental United States at the time of the pandemic.

For me, COVID-19 initially meant my work as a scientist was ramped down; then my education went digital. Soon after, the nation went into lockdown. This is when I understood the pandemic’s most painful implication: I would be separated from my family, friends, and culture in Puerto Rico for an unpredictable amount of time.

In Self-Isolation, I disclose the surreal feelings the pandemic brought into my daily life. Ultimately, through the juxtaposition of the “seen” and “unseen” experiences, I seek to highlight the often overlooked mental health impact of the pandemic.

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Layra Cintrón-Rivera self isolation pen and acrylic ink

12 x 9 inches

ciales dreaming Jaydah Monteiro Ayala When I was a little girl, I thought my grandfather’s house atop the lofty mountains was center of the world Where in clear days you can see two horizons, where the sky kisses her lover; the sea And shades of green meshed together in perfect harmony True meaning of oasis, the land gave us her love and sustained us for generations The land also gave us the qualities of the earth, the stubbornness and steadfast beliefs we hold today that cannot be swayed The land also gave us her rain, and how we dance in it, for we know joy in the stormiest of weather We grew to the land like vines, curling and intertwining around each other, reluctant in letting go We tip toed at night, listening to the song of the coquí and how they whisper the secrets of the campo This place in between dream and reality, pursuit and promise, seems so far and so near like sometimes I could ground myself after years of floating aimlessly while still being ever free My grandfather told stories of how if the coquí is taken from Puerto Rico, she will die from devastation of missing her island I feel myself that coquí or maybe a tropical bird; bright, colorful, foreign In a place where I don’t quite belong My home is not here. It is in the place of the billowing skirts of plena dancers, the deep drums of bomba resonating in my chest, and where calloused hands held tender hearts I, tiny coquí, weep for my island, for my longing is too great to bear In a place where I was taken from my island home

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Yvonne Sierra window reflection watercolor

13 x 12 inches

It is not the first time that my world has stopped. Life changed when my daughter died of cancer in August 2004. Nor was it the same after Hurricane Maria hit our home in Puerto Rico in September 2017. As I bloomed in Boston, the whole world changed. During spring break in March 2020, COVID-19 arrived in Massachusetts. I could not go back to Lesley University’s campus or even use the bus, as everyday activities became life threatening, taking away our freedom and security.

Window Reflection depicts being restricted to the house as I look out the window looking for spring changes and its surprises.

I reflect about the changes happening outside and the changes happening inside of me. The cherry tree gradually transforms until it is completely covered with green leaves, then summer comes in from my window. In the face of fear, the window view helps me see the changes of life as it seeks to flourish, making me value life even more.

Yvonne Sierra

My experience of COVID-19 was very centered on the feeling of duality. I felt immense pain and immense joy, or paralyzing loneliness and the comfort of community in my time at home. Being in quarantine put into perspective how much I miss Puerto Rico and specifically, my family on the island. The memories and their love were what inspired me to write Ciales Dreaming.

Being far from the island, I always felt like I was different in a way I couldn’t quite explain. When I’m there, everything feels just right. This poem is essentially a love letter not only to my precious homeland but to my family. Their presence and unwavering love and affection have pulled me through the darkest of times and I hope that Ciales Dreaming can convey the love I feel for them when I feel that a normal ‘te quiero’ isn’t enough.

Jaydah Monteiro Ayala

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cuentos de ayer Jaydah Monteiro Ayala Come, Child.

Let me tell you a story for you do not know Know how your ancestors suffered so and remind you of the blood you carry See how the woman dances with her skirt Fluttering like the banana leaves in the huracán The way her feet move to the sound of drums beating like the rain Those feet once bore chains Shackled to her brothers and sisters The ache of sores from being torn from her homeland and the metal marring her flesh She dances to ease the pain Erratic Furious Devastated Her beauty shines through the white cloth of a slave’s Sunday best Skin glowing like the morning dew collecting in the flowers after a torrential rain Hair fierce and unafraid like the thunderclouds clawing their way above the hacienda that keeps her captive Beloved, you do not know How they crafted their agony into a dance so raw and beautiful Their cries and worry worn hearts made into enthralling drumbeats How deep their blood runs within you My darling child, Bomba and her story of pain and progress are yours The ability to overcome is your birthright And yet, why do you choose to forget what you own?

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María Celeste Luna ghosts watercolor

5.5 x 8.5 inches

This pandemic has exacerbated these feelings of anxiety and isolation and has worsened my fear of not knowing when I am going to be able to go back to Argentina to see my family and friends. “There is no way I can protect them if I am not there,” I repeat to myself, as if I could actually protect anyone from this disease. It has also brought a great sadness of seeing how little some people care about this reality, how their own selfishness and superficial priorities are put before the collective ones. and were born together, bringing out my feelings of distress. expresses how little we talk about the ones that the virus took and how their faces are fading out. represents feeling lost and overwhelmed, in the middle of all these people, in the middle of all these ghosts, trying to scream and trying to cope with such an uncanny reality.

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María Celeste Luna sometimes light watercolor, indian ink, marker and pieces of paper

8.5 x 5 .5 inches

en búsqueda de una unión Maylyn Gomez Todos con deseo, de que la matriz del mundo algún día forme raíces nutrientes, para que su tierra conecte todo aquello que parece opuesto entre razas. ¿Será tener que esperar por servidores con ilusiones de sembrar propósito de luz y paz? ¿En aquel hoyo de oscuridad sin virtud? ¿Dónde por fe, podrán los girasoles crecer esperanza entre lo aceptable y lo corrupto? ¿Cuántas visiones les tendrá que dar la luna entre sueños, para que tomen acción hacia sus peticiones al amanecer?

Vayan en búsqueda de aquello que complementa, pues quizás son los temores que nunca se rendirán al valor de una unión por diferencias humanas.

El poema y la pintura En Búsqueda De Una Unión están basados en las cosas que separan a la humanidad. En este tiempo de pandemia me he dado cuenta no solo de la relevancia del “COVID-19” o del movimiento “Black Lives Matters”, sino de algo más profundo. La pandemia ha mantenido en soledad aquellos que expresan sus diferencias en ideas, manera de vivir o acciones que toman hacia otros.

Escogí hablar de este tema para traer conciencia de lo que no se ve o lo que decidimos no ver. Que no solo es el COVID-19 el que nos enferma y el que necesita solución. También están esos hermanos de quien nos distanciamos en este tiempo que se enferman de soledad, en pensamientos de culpa y de confusión. Pienso que esta pandemia también ha llegado para que se encuentre solución a estos problemas, En Búsqueda de Una Unión.

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Maylyn Gomez en búsqueda de una unión acrylic Paint and gel medium

18 x 24 inches 17

SHIkebana is a photographic series inspired by vanitas paintings, which portrays the ephemerality and uncertainty of life through an obscure future: ~The flower, in its ephemeral life, is always waiting for a pollinator, waiting for the rain. Finally, one day, someone approaches, filling the flower with hope. Like a voracious predator, we tear the flower from the ground. Part of a beautiful arrangement at the center of the table, colorful and aromatic, but less alive, ironically, the flower continues to wait.

Everything is ephemeral. Everything will die. Everything will be forgotten~

Felipe Shibuya SHIkebana from the Japanese shi: death; and ikebana: giving life to flowers inkjet prints on matte photo paper and sculpture made with clay, dried flowers and leaves, and trunk bark each photo 35.5 x 23.5 inches

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19

COVID-19 has struck us all, across all classes and generations, across all colors and creeds. As an online student at UMass Boston’s Advanced Spanish to English Translation Department, I have seen first-hand how COVID-19 has affected families, students and higher learning institutions all around the globe. In my own business life as a translator, COVID-19 has deeply impacted my clients, causing their business and my business to dry up. This spilled over into my personal life, just like everyone else. But it is not acceptable that we let this disease conquer our minds and spirits, defeat our bodies and souls. Although this is the “new normal;” We Must Fight and find new ways!

I write to share with others that they are not alone, people are feeling the same stress and worries they are. COVID. The Message Begins...You Won’t Win… is an embodiment of that and how to focus, fight and reclaim!

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COVID. Marko de la garza - The web poet The Message begins…

You won’t win!

El Mensaje comienza… ¡No vas a ganar!

Struggling to cope in a world without hope that never seems to end.

Luchando para aguantar en un mundo sin esperanza que nunca parece terminar.

Feelings of despair that catch you unaware and seem to move right in.

Sentimientos de desesperación que te pillan desprevenido y te embargan.

Real feelings left behind, the mind totally blind because all has changed.

Emociones reales dejadas atrás, la mente totalmente ciega porque todo cambió.

You are not to blame, your feelings of love and connection still remain.

Smile at the wind and your life reclaim!

No tienes la culpa, los sentimientos de amor y conexión permanecen. ¡Sonríe al viento y recupera tu vida!

Feel the warmth of the sun and the breeze on your skin.

The feelings will return to your heart again.

Siente la tibieza del sol y la brisa en tu piel.

Los sentimientos volverán a tu corazón nuevamente.

Never give up hope.

Together we can cope and restart our lives to win!

Nunca pierdas la esperanza.

Juntos podemos hacer frente y reiniciar nuestras vidas para vencer!

Edited by: Veronica (Valdebenito) O’Keefe © TheWebPoet.com

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Jason’s work engages the cross-section of Chicano/Indigenous identity, cultural hybridization, post-colonial reconstruction, and political agency. His visual art bridges the aesthetics and feel from the early cubist collage movement and the Russian abstract movement of the 1920s with living and historical Native/Indigenous Californian and Chicano art traditions to explore the Post-colonial narrative through active synthesis and guided (re)construction.

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Jason Alarcón-Montgomery Acorn collage on sheet metal and wood

76 x 72 inches close-ups (left page)

During COVID-19, many artists, musicians, actors, and dancers lost their jobs, gigs, and possibly life-changing opportunities.

This included myself. Latinx creators suddenly became some of the most vulnerable, when racial tensions and global catastrophes started to occur simultaneously during this unstable time in history. I suddenly had more isolated time to sit with myself and make sense of my feelings, and most importantly, rediscover what it means to be a Latina artist during turbulence.

Wavy remnants, is a video piece I created alongside my partner, a musician, during COVID-19. Navigating health precautions, canceled gigs, talks about race, and social distance, we collaborated on this piece to creatively interpret our state of mind in this unforgettable time. He first created the melodic keyboard sounds and sent them to me as I then attempted to translate them into visuals. Created using software for mixing live visuals at concerts, the glitch art/experimental images reflect in a synesthetic sense his calming, playful, and contemplative sounds. Energies mesh and meld with abstract images roughly transforming into river waves, a horse, a bird wing, or something else. The long stretches of time can feel chaotic with uncertainty and at times, peaceful and calming, mirroring life during COVID-19. And so we create a piece of healing and peace, with a reminder we must all take care of each other always.

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María Servellón wavy remnants video projection music by James Cooper

Duration: 1:07 minutes https://vimeo.com /442043398

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COVID José Zepeda A Mexican stole your job today and you should be thankful.

Many Americans will feast tonight and thank Jesus for putting food on the table.

Many Mexicans are thankful you did not take their children away today, though you might tomorrow.

They will show up to work tomorrow. And the day after too.

They will pray to the Virgen Maria.

They will ask for another day of work and another day of health.

You pray to your Jesus. And he is white.

But perhaps you should thank brown Jesus, and thank José and Maria too.

Many Mexicans are thankful despite not having unemployment rights, during a fucking world pandemic.

They will show up to work tomorrow. And the day after too.

Prayers asked in an interview: “why is Mexican a dirty word?” and it sparked a revolution in me Maybe because we are the color of dirt.

Why is dirty a negative word?

Could brown dirt soil something white?

I kinda like how I carry genetically encoded sunblock.

The way my skin flushes dark when the sun caresses it You can’t convince me it’s anything other than majestic 26

And they call this dirt America.

Remember: This dirt had a name before it.

This dirt will have a name after it.

I can only think of things they have built on top of the dirt But no connections they have built with the dirt Remember: the soil, the darker it is, the more fertile The more it can carry and nurture life We will get off the buses after the harvest, and we will be dirty We will cross the border back into Mexico to our families, dirty But because of the dirt we are: brown strong and beautiful Remember: brown strong and beautiful maybe dirty, Is all that I want to be.

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Few will stop to think about how much of a privilege it is to stay home during a pandemic, or why food is still available to them.

Since the beginning of lockdowns many people were told to work from home in the interest of protecting workers from COVID-19.

This was not the case and continues to not be the case for many Latinx workers who still have to show up to the fields to pick fruits and vegetables, to slaughterhouses and restaurants.

Unsurprisingly and very unfortunately, Latinx communities have faced a disproportionate burden from the virus due to so many of us being essential workers.

They are heroes, they are keeping us fed, and of course no one is talking about it.

José Zepeda

I typically paint in a state akin to meditation, ruminating on an emotion kindled by a personal dilemma or global crises. Early in 2020, I reflected on the emotions that the COVID-19 pandemic was bringing to my mood and my psyche, exposed to my own feelings of isolation in the USA and - virtually - to those of my loved ones, suffering an extended quarantine in my country of origin, Argentina. Layer after layer, I produced a series of oil paintings depicting biomorphic shapes evocative of islands, maps or cells of organisms. By adding a variety of mark-making, including dots, these biomorphic shapes seem to be adapting to internal or external factors that pollute or alter their nature.

I like to think that I am straddling this duality in my imagery in : micro (cells of organisms) and macro (maps/islands) as metaphors for the lability of Life and of our individual reality.

Adriana G. Prat Adriana G. Prat invisible spreading oil on canvas

16 x 20 inches 28

ARTISTS

Adriana G. Prat is an academically-trained scientist from Argentina. After moving to Cambridge, MA , she realized her call to become a visual artist, learning art skills in adult education centers and through continuous experimentation. Adriana produces oil/acrylic abstract paintings that often evoke maps, islands, or organisms’ cells. Adriana has shown at open studios, galleries, alternative spaces, and museums, in both Argentina and the greater Boston area, and, recently in Iceland. She exhibits at a shared Boston SOWA space.

Connect with Adriana on Instagram @agprat.art

Felipe Shibuya is from São Paulo, Brazil and studied Ecology and Nature Conservation at the Federal University of Paraná, where he earned his Ph.D. Currently, he’s an M.F.A. candidate in Studio Art at the University at Buffalo, working at the intersection between biology and art. In his research, he always highlights the visuality of nature. His work has been exhibited in the USA, Portugal, and Germany, and has citations in magazines such as National Geographic and Citylab.

Learn more about Felipe on Instagram @felipeshibuya

Yvonne Sierra Alfaro was born in Connecticut to Puerto Rican parents. She lived in Puerto Rico from the age of three until she moved to Massachusetts with her husband and son in 2018, where she is dedicated to her family, the care of preschool children, and volunteer work. At the age of 43, Yvonne is pursuing her dream of studying art and social sciences by majoring in Expressive Art Therapy at Lesley University, proving that is never too late to learn and discover your talents.

Learn more about Yvonne on Instagram @yvonnart

Maria Servellón is an award-winning filmmaker, multimedia artist, educator, and arts advocate from Boston, MA. She received her B.A. in Studio Art and Japanese from University of Massachusetts Boston, and her M.F.A. in Film and Media Art from Emerson College. Her focus is film and digital media, including projection, installation, photography, drawing, and design. Maria’s work often explores synesthetic relationships between art, music, and dance.

Connect with Maria on Instagram @riaservellon and @hyphenfilm

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Maylyn Gomez de 32 años es nacida en Lawrence MA, de padres dominicanos. Ella ha sido amante del arte desde muy temprana edad, en donde muchos de sus talentos han sido adquiridos de manera autodidacta y después guiada por mentores. Su misión es la de traer conciencia sobre inquietudes que no son expresadas por miedo de ser juzgado. Con su poemas y pinturas Maylyn desea guiar a las personas a la sanación, y liberación personal.

Podes contactar a Maylyn a traves de Instagram @gomezmaylin James Cooper is a local musician and producer in Boston, MA. He graduated from University of Massachusetts Boston in 2012 with a B.A. in Music. His band, City of Dis, can be found at cityofdismusic.com. Their EP, A Flawed Design, is available on iTunes, Spotify, and Bandcamp.

Connect with James on Instagram @cityofdisband

Lucia Andrade is a 4th year Ph.D. Candidate in the Counseling Psychology program at University of Massachusetts Boston, exploring the art of conducting suicide risk assessments, which focuses on the balance between the personal narrative of the client, the clinician’s experience, and the therapeutic alliance. Lucia has an admiration for the arts. She welcomes artwork in the classroom from her students to facilitate deeper reflections and connection with a topic. She also enjoys photography.

You can connect with Lucia on Instagram at @lucia.andrade.372 Jason R. Montgomery is a Chicano /Indigenous Californian writer, painter, and playwright from El Centro, California. He merges Indigenous Californian and Chicano designs and aesthetics to explore the history of US colonization while synthesizing a decolonized motif that honors the complicated heritage of the postcolonial subject.

Learn more about Jason on attackbearpress.com Daniliz Capellán Pichardo was born in La Vega in the Dominican Republic. She immigrated to Brooklyn, NYC, in the U.S. at 3 years old, where she also graduated from high school before moving to Boston for college.

Daniliz studiesd chemistry at University of Massachusetts Boston and loves to draw and paint when inspiration hits her.

You can contact Daniliz on Instagram @daniliz_cp

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Layra Cintrón-Rivera was born and raised in Puerto Rico. Now, Layra is a third-year Pathobiology Ph.D. candidate at Brown University, in Providence, RI. Her true passion is creative and mindful education, and she aspires to become a professor to develop and expand creative and inclusive educational practices.

Her goal is to help diversify the STEM field by educating, empowering, and motivating other minorities to pursue science.

To see more of her art visit @createmindfulart on Instagram

From a young age, Marko De La Garza has always dreamed of becoming a writer and a poet. Sometimes as the years go by, dreams start to fade away…

Starting classes at UMass Boston in 2019 brought those dreams back to life and now they are about to come into fruition. Marko’s poetry comes from his “heart and soul”, not from what he aspires to be, but from who and what he actually is!

Connect with Marko via marko@thewebpoet.com

Jaydah Monteiro Ayala is a Puerto Rican-Cape Verdean poet and artist studying Biochemistry at University of Massachusetts Boston. Her work encompasses bright and intricate watercolor botanicals bursting with life or delicate poetry filled with imagery. When not painting or writing, she enjoys cooking, dancing, or sitting with a cup of tea with her bird, Laranja, and cat, Mochi.

Her works are found on the often updated Instagram blog @aetherealroses.

José Zepeda is a poet-scientist hybrid who originates from San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora in México. During the day, he is interested in how neural circuits within the brain can rewire themselves with experience.

Whenever he gets a break from the lab, José is intent on crafting prose and poetry centered around the contemporary Xicano experience. He has been a semi-finalist at the 2018 College Union Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI), the international collegiate poetry conference, and an invited feature/guest at many events in Boston, where he completed his B.S. in biochemistry. He is currently editing his book titled “Xunuta,” where he aims to continue a tradition of deliberate and delicate storytelling. He is also planning a podcast where he fuses his passions of science, poetry and advocacy together. José currently resides in Nashville, TN where he is pursuing a Ph.D. in neuropharmacology at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Learn more about José in jczepeda.com 33

THE TEAM Gonzalo Bacigalupe, Ed.D., M.P.H., is Professor of Counseling Psychology, College of Education and Human Development at University of Massachusetts Boston. A native of Chile, during the last four years, he has been carrying on research in the disaster resilience governance and participation, and is now leading a research project that tracks the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable families and communities. A City of Boston certified artist, his abstract art addresses the questions of body and territory representation, the construction of maps, cartography, and intends to advance a form of eco-art that captures the complexities posed by the climate crisis.

Learn more about Gonzalo on bacigalupe.wordpress.com or connect with him on Twitter or Instagram @bacigalupe.

Jessica Karch is a Ph.D. candidate at University of Massachusetts Boston in Chemistry, focusing on chemistry education research. She received her B.A. in Chemistry and German Literature and Cultural History from Columbia University in 2015. Currently, she is the president of the UMass Boston chapter of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), where she has organized an interdisciplinary initiative showcasing diverse scientist-artists within the university community (“Ciencia y Arte”).

Connect with Jessica on Twitter @jessicakarchCER.

María Celeste Luna, Ph.D., is an Argentinian biologist and amateur illustrator living in Boston. She received her Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology at University of Buenos Aires. She explores the world of art trying to find different ways to connect the youngest generations with science and biodiversity. She loves working with children and aims to publish books that help them value and appreciate nature. As a flourishing artist she likes to explore with different techniques and materials, to create new visual approaches. She dreams of creating stories through art that can inspire introspection for life and provoke wonder and engagement with the natural world.

You can connect with her on Twitter @Luna__Celes and on Instagram @lightblue_moon and @celestelunastudio.

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Characterizing and graphing the pandemic through numbers and hard data utilizing available epidemiological data became a sort of an obsession for those of us intending to make sense of this disaster. Living in Chile throughout the pandemic was an opportunity to join a network of experts that put a lot of efforts in informing citizenship about the contagion, the illness, and the death since the government have had a terrible record at distorting and hiding the unfolding tragedy. This painting intends to move us beyond the absolute numbers and percentages and make sense of the thousands of stories that the cold data cannot represent. It began as an exercise to map the Chilean territory and soon after, for weeks, I wrote numbers, representing each life. I purposedly wanted to express the invisibility of these lives for policy makers and politicians while also highlighting the interconnectedness among us. It is also a testimony to a series of events that are still unfolding. The painting is finished but the lives lost and the stories that each contains should be contained in our memories and that of the country. It is an ocean of lives.

Gonzalo Bacigalupe an ocean of data (back cover artwork) mixed media: paper, watercolors,graphite pencil, acrylics, oil pastels 30 x 43 inches