Kayla Henriquez
Painting
In Kayla’s body of work, she conveys the struggles and challenges of family separation. She creates mixed media artworks using materials significant to her and her family. Kayla’s work also consists of intricate patterns and repetitions using line, shape, and space, which projects a sense of movement and order within the chaos and yearning of having her family far away.
Anhelo/Yearning (detail), 2023. Mediums: A stain Kayla created using the soil from her grandparent’s backyard in Cuba, La Llave Cuban coffee (her maternal grandparents’ favorite coffee), and Cuba map prints. A stain Kayla created using the soil from her backyard in Florida, chamomile tea, orange blossom tea, and Florida map prints. A stain Kayla created using the soil from “el campo” in the Dominican Republic (D.R.), a stain Kayla created from a mahogany/caoba tree bark (her paternal grandmother used this technique in the D.R. to dye her hair when she was young), and D.R. map prints. Sharpie markers and pen. 10 x 10 ft.