SEQB2020 Artists: Yarisa Colón Torres

Forest Hills

Home is an elusive term, yet it can provoke overwhelming emotional reactions...when I moved with my family from Toa Baja, Puerto Rico to Queens, New York in 1991, my notion of “home” was completely shattered.

In time, the act of writing, coupled with the construction of handmade books and hand-cut collages, became a life source. Through these art forms, I delved into countless themes, interests, and lived experiences. And I began to question, and even, confront intimate and collective narratives related to one’s sense of belonging to a particular place, group, community, gender, experience, among other categories.

After almost three decades, living in and out of Queens, I have realized that my creative practice has not served as the ultimate answer, much less as a mode of salvation. But it has sparked unexpected, and much-needed conversations. It has brought me closer to others. At its best, it has dared me to face reality.