La Bailarina De Los Párajos

“La Bailarina De Los Párajos” is a 10x13” hand carved linoleum block print made in black oil based ink on 11x14” Stonehenge paper in Kraft. The title can be translated in English to “the dance of the birds”.  Created originally as part of a portfolio exchange themed “Print a Bird on It” for Southern Graphic Council International’s 2025 conference happening in Puerto Rico, this print is inspired by Afro-Puerto Rican’s and their rich culture of dance called Bomba. Bomba dancers wear gloriously fluttering skirts while they dance explosive steps that actually dictate beat of the drumming that accompanies their moves. Swaying their massive skirts to rhythms that hearken back to the ancestral movements of first arrived enslaved Africans. The dance is one of liberation and total freedom—reconnecting to African ancestors and re-rememberance of where they come from and what it takes to affirm humanity— BÁMBULA. What better creature to encapsulate this liberation and freedom than a bird. This Bo