0:00:00.071,0:00:02.821
(birds chirping)

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(water flowing)

0:00:17.610,0:00:19.503
- Place is important in my work.

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Coming from a place that is

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determined in other people's imagination.

0:00:29.310,0:00:32.468
I'm interested in the idea of opacity.

0:00:32.468,0:00:35.280
(street traffic rumbling softly)

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A right to remain opaque,

0:00:38.100,0:00:39.180
even to yourself,

0:00:39.180,0:00:43.110
even things that you may not[br]understand about yourself,

0:00:43.110,0:00:44.880
and being at peace with that

0:00:44.880,0:00:47.223
and not having to explain[br]yourself to others.

0:00:50.310,0:00:52.680
I think the way it manifests in my work

0:00:52.680,0:00:57.123
is through all these layers[br]that I'm playing with.

0:00:57.990,0:01:02.070
Particularly as it relates[br]to the idea of camouflage,

0:01:02.070,0:01:05.254
'cause I think it's some type[br]of opacity in a visual way.

0:01:05.254,0:01:06.450
(waves lapping)

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Camouflage is this survival[br]strategy in the natural world.

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As we navigate society,[br]this idea of blending in or

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being visible,

0:01:18.990,0:01:20.700
and having control of that,

0:01:20.700,0:01:23.753
I think is a tool for[br]liberation, in a way.

0:01:23.753,0:01:26.503
(sirens wailing)

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(upbeat Reggaeton music)

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My name is Joiri Minaya.

0:01:36.390,0:01:39.210
I'm a multidisciplinary visual artist

0:01:39.210,0:01:41.823
based in New York from[br]the Dominican Republic.

0:01:45.120,0:01:46.470
What else do I say?

0:01:46.470,0:01:47.670
My pronouns are she/her.

0:01:50.777,0:01:55.710
I've been interested in patterns[br]as a metaphor for society.

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How people repeat and[br]embody these patterns.

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Siboney is about labor

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and unpacking the laboriousness

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behind the facade of tropical packaging,

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and thinking of women's[br]role in this packaging.

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♪ ♪ ♪

0:02:35.340,0:02:38.190
There's an interesting process

0:02:38.190,0:02:39.780
that happens when you see an image

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that you don't necessarily[br]have language for immediately.

0:02:44.747,0:02:47.460
♪ ♪ ♪

0:02:47.460,0:02:49.230
I'm interested in how an image

0:02:49.230,0:02:54.360
has the power to transmit[br]a lot in a very short time,

0:02:54.360,0:02:57.573
but then how you can spend a[br]longer time with that image

0:02:57.573,0:03:00.223
and unpack all of these other things.

0:03:06.720,0:03:10.710
The Container series[br]developed from the collages

0:03:10.710,0:03:12.390
that I did initially for

0:03:12.390,0:03:14.700
the Dominican Women Google Search series.

0:03:14.700,0:03:16.650
I started saving the images

0:03:16.650,0:03:18.450
that I found on the Google search

0:03:18.450,0:03:20.100
and classifying them

0:03:20.100,0:03:22.380
by the way they were posing,

0:03:22.380,0:03:25.350
'cause I thought there were some patterns.

0:03:25.350,0:03:26.880
Or maybe I'm just fixated on patterns.

0:03:26.880,0:03:29.460
But I thought there were some patterns

0:03:29.460,0:03:31.950
in the way that women[br]pose for the cameras.

0:03:31.950,0:03:34.050
Like there was a lot of like arms akimbo

0:03:34.050,0:03:37.560
and like a lot of like obelisk-esque poses

0:03:37.560,0:03:39.510
of women lying on the beach.

0:03:39.510,0:03:41.910
And I started recognizing

0:03:41.910,0:03:46.910
how some of those are[br]things that I did myself.

0:03:47.272,0:03:50.105
(people chatting)

0:03:51.900,0:03:53.560
Well, I started sewing body suits

0:03:53.560,0:03:58.560
that forced me to embody these poses,

0:03:58.650,0:04:00.870
as an exploration for myself

0:04:00.870,0:04:03.270
but also to question this[br]type of performativity,

0:04:03.270,0:04:06.330
because you initially[br]recognize it very quickly

0:04:06.330,0:04:08.010
but then there's the weirdness

0:04:08.010,0:04:09.963
of this person being fully encased.

0:04:13.266,0:04:14.631
(upbeat drumming)

0:04:14.631,0:04:15.279
(car horns honking)

0:04:15.279,0:04:17.160
I grew up in the city of Santo Domingo

0:04:17.160,0:04:18.720
which is full of concrete

0:04:18.720,0:04:22.023
and notoriously lacking public parks.

0:04:24.210,0:04:27.120
I really appreciate nature[br]when I can access it.

0:04:27.120,0:04:30.520
At the same time, I'm aware of my possible

0:04:31.650,0:04:33.963
probable romanticization of nature.

0:04:36.390,0:04:39.510
When I go back to the region[br]where my family's from

0:04:39.510,0:04:41.850
I'm really excited about this nature.

0:04:41.850,0:04:44.220
But then my mom is like,

0:04:44.220,0:04:46.980
well, growing up we were really[br]concerned about parasites

0:04:46.980,0:04:49.770
and like the heat is really awful,

0:04:49.770,0:04:51.690
and you can be raped in the dark.

0:04:51.690,0:04:55.170
So, like there's all of this[br]fears and dangers of nature

0:04:55.170,0:04:56.880
which are very real.

0:04:56.880,0:05:00.734
(waves lapping)

0:05:00.819,0:05:02.100
(ground crunching under feet)

0:05:02.100,0:05:06.540
Site specificity and the[br]history that a place has

0:05:06.540,0:05:07.860
has been important,

0:05:07.860,0:05:12.300
specifically with the works[br]where I'm making new patterns

0:05:12.300,0:05:15.233
in response to the patterns[br]that I have been appropriating.

0:05:18.210,0:05:22.530
I've been designing[br]patterns that look tropical

0:05:22.530,0:05:24.810
and are playing with the visual language

0:05:24.810,0:05:26.373
of botanical illustration.

0:05:28.440,0:05:31.770
But, looking at plants that were used

0:05:31.770,0:05:35.220
by people who resisted colonial processes

0:05:35.220,0:05:37.470
through the use of these plants.

0:05:37.470,0:05:40.860
So, some plants have been[br]used to make weapons,

0:05:40.860,0:05:42.810
sometimes have been used to make poisons,

0:05:42.810,0:05:47.250
sometimes these plants are used[br]to speak to your ancestors.

0:05:47.250,0:05:50.370
So, I'm interested in all[br]of these different systems

0:05:50.370,0:05:52.623
of resistance through these plants.

0:05:55.980,0:05:59.910
The main way that I've showcased this

0:05:59.910,0:06:01.530
is printing them on fabric

0:06:01.530,0:06:05.763
that is then used to[br]cover colonizer statues.

0:06:11.610,0:06:16.610
I'm thinking of a way to[br]re-signify that public space

0:06:16.710,0:06:19.860
that is used to commemorate[br]colonial history,

0:06:19.860,0:06:23.130
and instead trying to[br]commemorate the people

0:06:23.130,0:06:26.853
who resisted colonialism[br]who don't have a statue.

0:06:29.040,0:06:30.630
Just thinking of public space

0:06:30.630,0:06:33.270
as this space that's[br]supposed to be democratic,

0:06:33.270,0:06:34.950
but then, of course,

0:06:34.950,0:06:38.880
there's like forces that[br]determine what is more significant

0:06:38.880,0:06:40.830
and what is left out.

0:06:40.830,0:06:43.986
I'm trying to tell the[br]stories that remain untold.

0:06:43.986,0:06:47.486
(upbeat percussive music)