La Quarentena (Corona Santa)

La Quarentena (Corona Santa) is a pieta image depicting the vulnerability and strength of a Nicaraguan-American mother and daughter who are front line workers of mixed race and immigration status, taken during the Covid19 pandemic in Miami. Crowning into motherhood is increasingly dangerous in Miami hospitals during the quarantine, where birthing advocates such as extended family or doulas are forbidden from hospital wards. Birthing complications and death rates amongst already vulnerable populations are expected to rise without this critical support, given the history of structural violence in the hospital against women of color. La Quarentena combines the Corona crisis with essential cultural traditions such as “La Cuarentena” (an ancestral, latin american tradition of extended family support for the first forty days postpartum). These vital practices are further threatened by the global pandemic, and central to the survival of Latinx birthing people of color.

The Linea Negra series photographs (2008-present) documents the inception of gender, power and race structures from slogans, slang, maxims and "old wives tales" to internalized, institutional violence. The works celebrate the melanin line appearing during gestation (most prominent in women of color) as a biological pieta; the first biographical mark on the procreative body and the first sign of our creative humanity.