about the artist
Biography
Juasline “Juju” Plasencia (they/she) (B. 2001, Teaneck, NJ) is a Puerto-Rican-Dominican Visual Artist and Fine Arts Educator located in Miami, FL. As a first-generation with a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from Hamilton College (Clinton, NY), Juju specializes in the Fine Studio Arts, Arts Administration, Museum Education, and Public Art Education. Inspired by their Afro-Indigenous Caribbean heritage and East-Coast upbringing, Juju explores many themes in her work such as 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 in Art and bring representation and healing instead to these communities.
Artist Statement
"As an Afro-Indigenous, Puerto-Rican, Dominican woman, 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 parent’s countries 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. "