Kalena Marshall Garcia
“good with a camera”
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You Don’t Look Puerto Rican
You Don’t Look Puerto Rican is a collection of lens-based works created by a second generation Diasporican that are inspired by various forms of resistance to colonialism and existence in the Puerto Rican community. The collection includes four series of works; La Colorá, Dulces Promesas, What Does a Puerto Rican Look Like?, and Y Entonces.
Living a Diasporic experience is unfixed. I grew up without a full sense of belonging, but find comfort in things like meeting other Boricuas, looking into Puerto Rican history, learning to cook traditional dishes, and mulling through family archives. As I sort and live through these experiences, I feel closer to myself and my roots, but also wonder if I’d feel even closer if my family didn’t have to migrate.
Dulces Promesas, 2023
You Don’t Look Puerto Rican
Solo Exhibition, Stella Elkins Gallery
Philadelphia, PA
When I was growing up, my Mamá would tell me stories upon stories of her time living in Puerto Rico as a kid. She always told them in such great detail that I could visualize each perfectly in my head. My favorite of these memories was where she was sitting in the backyard with her abuelo while he was cutting down sugarcane and he handed her a piece to chew on. Dulces Promesas juxtaposes this sweet memory with the soiled past of exploitation, abuse, and cyclical nature of working class minorities due to US colonial influences. Archival images of isolated sugar cane workers and machines of industry are printed as coffee-toned cyanotypes on glass and paired with fresh sugar cane stalks. The installation is hung with fishing line, as a nod to my family and many others migration histories. The sugar cane will eventually decay, showing the impermanence of the United States’ exploitation, but the images will remain, showing the permanence of Puerto Rican resistance.
The Photographs used in this series were shot by Edwin Rosskam, Jack Delano, and Hansel Mieth.
Y Entonces, 2023
You Don’t Look Puerto Rican
Solo Exhibition, Stella Elkins Gallery
Philadelphia, PA
It is often taught that the Taínos were wiped out entirely by colonizers with no trace of their cultural traditions. In the present day, this belief is being proven false. Y Entonces is a series of van dyke prints on silk displaying the building of a sculpture made with traditional cookware used and passed down by the women in my family. The prints are toned in Achiote seeds, a native spice to Puerto Rico used by Taínos in pre-colonial times that is still used today. The images represent native roots– not just through the ingredients used or traditions they hold, but through the decolonization of these spaces widely viewed as domestic. The prints are hung in a stereotypical domestic motif to show that the contributions of women are not confined to the household, but are instrumental in the preservation of our cultural heritage.
What Does a Puerto Rican Look Like?, 2023
You Don’t Look Puerto Rican
Solo Exhibition, Stella Elkins Gallery
Philadelphia, PA
What Does a Puerto Rican Look Like? is a collection of photographic portraits that explores the ambiguity of the genetic makeup of Puerto Ricans due to colonization. Through the use of traditional darkroom printing, this series explores the medium to represent the subjects in an empowering way-- whereas, historically, it was used to exploit and misrepresent Carribeans under the false pretense of racial and ethnic documentation. This series is a response to, “You don’t look Puerto Rican”, one of the most common phrases said to people from my community. The viewer is faced with confronting images of people from the Puerto Rican Diaspora. When displayed together, they break the unconscious biases people hold in their expectations of what certain groups of people should look like. By showcasing a diverse range of individuals, the collection challenges the viewer’s by expanding their understanding of the complexity of ethnic identities. In this way, the collection seeks to rectify the historical wrongs of colonial photographic representation and promote a more just and inclusive society.
La Colorá, 2023
You Don’t Look Puerto Rican
Solo Exhibition, Stella Elkins Gallery
Philadelphia, PA
Coming from a mixed background, I often contemplate my privileges while simultaneously being part of a marginalized community– constantly considering and reconsidering my role in this position, both as a photographer and as a member of this community. La Colorá is a self-portrait taken in my room, capturing me in this moment of liminality. By placing this piece across from the portraits in What Does a Puerto Rican Look Like?, I show the distance and isolation I feel being in my position, though I will always be a proud part of this community.
Learning Solidarity 1 & 2
Learning Solidarity 1, 2023
https://tinyurl.com/ybkjn3ct
Influenced by Dread Scott’s “A Man Was Lynched By Police Yesterday” my works Learning Solidarity 1 & 2 were recreations of a protest sign made in 2001 about Palestinian and Puerto Rican solidarity in the form of a banner. When I displayed this work at Tyler School of Art and Architecture, the first banner was taken down by the institution and disposed of within a couple hours. I hosted a community engagement night where I remade the banner with a group of fellow students however; the second banner was only allowed to be put up with a disclaimer written by administration. Since I displayed this work, many other student artists displayed work in solidarity with Palestine paired with mandatory disclaimers. Tyler has since put up permanent disclaimers in all of their gallery spaces.
Learning Solidarity 2 (With Disclaimer by Tyler School of Art and Architecture), 2023
Made in collaboration with community members.
You Don’t Look Puerto Rican
Solo Exhibition, Stella Elkins Gallery
Philadelphia, PA
Learning Solidarity Sign 2, 2023
You Don’t Look Puerto Rican
Solo Exhibition, Stella Elkins Gallery
Philadelphia, PA
Sustainable Printing
Caffenol Prints of “The American West”, 2023
COMPHET
16x20 Silver Gelatin Print
COMPHET is a body of work that delves into the experience of enforced domesticity as a woman and examines how compulsory heterosexuality has influenced my struggles with self-identity and sexuality as a queer woman. At the inception of this series, I had recently exited a three-year relationship and came to the realization that I identified as a lesbian.
These self-portraits were captured in the apartment I shared with my ex-boyfriend, a space that became a significant source of anxiety for me as it served as a constant reminder of how I had conformed to a mold that did not reflect my true self. I created the initial series of prints while still residing in that shared space.
During the process of moving out, I discovered Adrienne Rich's influential essay, Compulsory Heterosexuality. This writing resonated profoundly with my personal experiences and prompted me to revisit the prints on a larger scale. In this revised series, I incorporated Rich's quotes in a manner that emulates a marked-up darkroom print, paralleling my journey of working through personal identity and sexuality through my artistic practice.