Search this site

Embedded Files

Natalia Melendez Rosa

Home
Work
About
Contact
News/Articles

Natalia Melendez Rosa

Home
Work
About
Contact
News/Articles
More

SANTIFICADO SEA SU NOMBRE

Plátano Nuestro serves as an alternative to the religious idols and spaces that influence Puerto Rico’s culture and what is “sacred” to us. Through architectural reference, it embeds religious spaces with aspects of everyday life that are important to Puerto Ricans — such as the machete and the plantain — and re-centers the core of our culture. These serve as symbols of cultural resilience given Puerto Rico’s ongoing colonial history — from Spanish to American rule — resulting in an erasure of our practices. Plátano Nuestro creates a new hierarchy of material and culture; it places red clay (commonly described as “impure”) and Puerto Rican cultural elements above our Spanish influence while also referencing ongoing struggles with American presence. The text “It’s a plantain not a BANANA” is a comical and synthesized representation of the constant battles Puerto Ricans face due to American presence on the island.

Plátano Nuestro, 2025

Madre, 2025

Sapo Concho, 2025

Google Sites

Report abuse

Page details

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse