Ecologies of Pattern Study 8

2026, Collage with Linoleum Elements on Cotton Rag Paper

10.75 x 10.75 inches. One original.

This collage is part of a series that emerged from my identity as a Latina, daughter of Peruvian immigrants with Afro-Peruvian ancestry, raised in the United States where my cultura was largely invisible in the world around me. Growing up, I struggled to build a healthy sense of self, but I was always drawn to color. My mother, a travel agent, brought back colorful fabrics and souvenirs from her trips through Latin America, and later I encountered those same weavings and patterns firsthand in Peru.

This work is my attempt to remember those patterns while building my own visual language. Repetition and mark-making become my tools for weaving my ancestral story into new forms. Color is the language I've spent years mastering. This piece takes the form of a quilt pattern with red border shapes and orange triangles, centered on a solid green square with an inner blue patterned diamond.

Part of the Ecologies of Pattern Study series. Also see Ecologies of Pattern Study 6, Ecologies of Pattern Study 7, Ecologies of Pattern Study 9, Ecologies of Pattern Study 10, and Ecologies of Pattern Study 11.