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Untitled
(Cover Art for "Rhymes for Treason" CD, Welfare
Poets, 2005)
2004
Acrylic/ collage on watercolor paper
10" x 10"
This image was designed for the "Rhymes for Treason" album by the Welfare Poets, 2005. Considering the theme of treason and using words or rhymes to voice out against injustice, the image of the screaming Puerto Rican Nationalist leader, Pedro Albizu Campos came to mind. The Welfare Poets had asked that I also consider the image of a burning U.S. flag to represent the treason element, as well as some text from the U.S. constitution. The final design represents Albizu's scream igniting the American flag. His monochromatic face is appearing from the sky against which both the Puerto Rico and U.S. flags wave. Colonial law in Puerto Rico requires that our flag be waved alongside the American flag at all times. This is something that independentistas are strictly oppose to. Here, the fire of Albizu's voice and spirit set the American flag aflame. The background includes the collaged inverted text of the constitution.
Hector Rivera and Ray Ramirez of the Welfare Poets were students at Cornell University, when I arrived there as a freshman in 1993. As part of a mere 10% Latino undergraduate population we quickly became part of a community that worked together to spread awareness about our history through activism and the arts: I with paintings and they with congas and poems. Since then, the Welfare Poets has expanded from 2 to a dozen artists. For more information visit: www.welfarepoets.com.