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𓆉 Biography 𓆉
Juasline “Juju” Plasencia (they/she) (B. 2001, Teaneck, NJ) is a Dominican & Puerto Rican Visual Artist of Afro-Taino Heritage and the Founder/CEO of Bohío Bonarté, LLC. In 2019, Juasline was awarded the Posse Foundation Scholarship and went on to study Visual Arts at Hamilton College. They are a First-generation College Graduate, earning their Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in 2023 from Hamilton College in Clinton, NY. They currently work as a Public School Fine Arts Teacher based in Miami, Florida, USA.
Juasline’s artwork is inspired by their Afro-Indigenous Caribbean heritage and East-Coast upbringing. Juju uses the Female Form to explore race, gender, sexuality, environmentalism, and the complexities of the Caribbean Diaspora within the context of modern society. By creating vibrantly painted portraits and sculptures, Juju hopes to dismantle the the stigmatization of Black and Indigenous Queer Bodies, especially Caribbean bodies, in Art and bring representation and healing instead to these communities.
Official Artist Statement
"As an Afro-Taino, Boriqua & Ayitiana femme persons, growing up in the Northeast meant growing up in a place far away from my family's native Caribbean islands. Although my family fully embraced their Nuyorican & Domiyork culture after immigrating to the United States, I also had the privilege of traveling frequently to my family's countries of Puerto Rico & the Dominican Republic and learning the importance of the natural and the spiritual connections my family has had with our Caribbean lands. As a way of decolonizing my mind, I began researching my ancestry to pay homage to my Taino & African ancestors that were the victims of colonization and the Transatlantic Slave trade. Due to this injustice, many of their names have been forgotten and their stories lost. While I do not know all of their names, I share in their belief of the sacredness of the Earth and all of its creatures. Although these entities are not here physically, I hope that they can observe my work in the afterlife and know they are not forgotten; That their teachings are still remembered. "