Morir Soñando (Die Dreaming)
fabric, laser cut acrylic, beads, and oil paint
Approx. 55 inches x 90 inches
*Not for sale
Website: www.platanogirls.com
Instagram: @arteperlamabel
About | Perla Mabel is an Afro-Caribbean multi-disciplinary artist. They were born in Boston, MA, and grew up both there and in the Dominican Republic. They deeply identify with their Dominican heritage, channeling themes of survival and recalling historical events and figures from their culture. Their practice reclaims their Blackness by incorporating satin fabrics used in rituals practiced in Santeria; they honor the people they paint by using the fabric as their canvas. Along with other fabrics, beads and objects in her paintings and installations in order to incorporate practices passed down from generations before them and throughout the African Diaspora. From reclaiming spaces of vulnerability and trauma to highlighting joy and resilience, Mabel’s portraits expand the possibilities of Blackness in art as a healing and empowering act. Now they are expanding their work into armor and public art challenging the ways in which their art can be accessed. Their Rhinoceros Armor project encompasses all the layers that make their paintings, but now taking the form of garments to act as the armor. They want their muses to embody that radical self love that is liberating to the soul. This project is inspired by Assata Shakur s Rhinoceros Woman poem in her autobiography. Like Shakur, Mabel uses art as their tool in order to evoke ownership and empower others to celebrate their Blackness. Mabel is motivated and inspired by the many witnesses that came before her. Documenting and caring for the narratives of light through the act of creating and holding space for all layers of their identities.