Therese (Honey), my Great Aunt with whom I share a name, was an unbelievable weaver. As she was passing away, my mother sat by her side, and when she held her, she saw for the first time that they shared the same hands. At that moment, my mother committed to her that she would always use them as she did to create beauty. 

Imprint is an ongoing body of work that illustrates my artistic self-discovery through the study of my familial lineage in the arts and gaining a deeper understanding of myself through how they use their hands to craft. 

My mother's dad and grandfather were passionate photographers, collecting cameras and deeply caring for the medium. They expressed their affection for their family by documenting the intimate details of their lives. This influence deeply impacted my mother, Christina, who similarly pursued photography as a teenager and has taken on dozens of different artistic mediums. Her love for image-making brought her to New York.

My father, Joel, is a Dominican fashion designer and a multitalented fine artist who, since 2006, has built an incredibly successful business/atelier. Growing up, his mom ran an atelier business where he would intern for her in the Dominican Republic, creating dresses and tailoring, which is where my dad first fell in love with the craft.

When I started this project, I initially intended to focus solely on my art to demonstrate self-discovery by mimicking my youthful exuberance, rediscovering abandoned creativity inspired by engrained childhood images. Though I stumbled upon my mother and father's old works from their youth, enthralled, I realized there was a lack of thorough exploration of my deep familial roots in artistry, which inspired the beginnings of this piece and will forever remain an evolving body of work. 

This body of work was exhibited at the International Center of Photography, where I am now an alumnus, having completed the year-long Imagemakers course.