I am a storyteller inspired by the natural and cultural heritage of Aruba.

Multidisciplinary artist and researcher: social engagement has become a crucial

part in my practice. I am constantly looking for a sense of conversation with the

audience, community and environment that shapes my Aruban identity. It holds a

central point of departure to my practice. I am indebted to the roots; my native

tongue Papiamento, a multilingual upbringing, the closeness and correlation with

Caribbean and Latin American art practices as guidance, and the landscape which

stirs mytho-poetic rituals, incantations and performance interventions.. Through

my practice I reflect upon ideas such as origin, the decolonial and non-western

identity and gender fluidity.My work lives in cultural heritage investigation and the

activation of artistic spaces that can form a bridge towards the local community

and contemporary art practices. Inviting a state of reflection and introspection.

My musical and sonorous explorations started from the eagerness to explore the

textures of the Aruban landscape. A simple touch transformed into a caress leading

me to CARICIA. Stimulating all our senses to stir awake the wonder of our ancestral

connection with nature. You are being guided on a journey of remembrance. The

mystery of this intuitive interaction with the landscape is the driving force behind

my practice. Using tools such as loop stations, portable recording engines,

laboratory of artifacts, instruments and special microphones that enables me to

capture the sonic results of this engagement, composing rhythms and melodies

from the immediate interaction with the textures of the landscape. This chain

reaction correlates with shamanic practices where altered states of awareness are

induced through sound and movement.

 

I have titled “CARICIA' as my artistic

practice, which entails recording the information received through nature

immersions. It allows me to introduce an eco-identity or even tap upon an eco-

psychology which becomes a wellness generating encounter for both me and the

participants that I lead through the practice. A collaborative conversation in

between nature and our senses as a guiding compass for creating pathways and

connections. My work is a synthesis of a deep search for identity through the

engagement with Aruba’s natural and cultural heritage.

As a facilitator I enjoy holding space for embodied explorations using somatic

principles that tap into the intuitive and sense-oriented logic that allows us to

surrender into movement exploration. The method withholds exploring the

materiality of the landscape, allowing it to develop into creation of instruments,

drawings/traces, installations, artifacts and choreography. Moving towards well

being and care by establishing contact with the cultural and natural climate that

shaped me.