The Colors of You & Me by Elise Guzmán
April 14 – April 17
Elise is a Caribbean, queer writer and artist with her work focused around love, memory, and
people’s connections with one another. Her writing is primarily poetry and non-fiction also
centered around these themes as well as nature and culture, specifically within the
Spanish-speaking Caribbean diaspora. Her current exhibition, The Colors of You and Me, is a
multimedia installation of audio, poetry, and collage to explore memory and nostalgia through the use of color and what that evokes for ourselves.
The Colors of You & Me comprise the following sections:
Sunjoy:
This work is a multimedia installation with a tent-like structure in the center and a video
projected on the wall, along with the audio of a poem in the background. The poem, Sunjoy, is a piece centered around joy as an act of resistance to harm that we face both in our society and internal world. It is to remind us of the mundane activities in our day to day lives that keep us whole and promote care. The video plays small 5-10 second clips of moments in nature or human interactions like the wind moving through tree branches, waves crashing on the sand, or people crossing the street for the viewer to take a moment and breathe. As we grow older, our joy towards the little moments dims. We ignore the colors in our lives and rush to our next destination. However, I reject that possibility. I will continue to find the delights in the little things like I am experiencing life for the first time. So I’d like you, the viewer, to sit down and enjoy it with me.
Memoryscape:
This work is a collage of images from different pieces of media and as well as my culture as a
Caribbean-American from early childhood to my present young adult life. At some point, some moment of growing up, the vibrancy in our lives turns bleak, but it is not a permanent reality. The presence of nostalgia is so prevalent in Gen Z, we are constantly in search of obtaining that heartwarming feeling again. Whether that is from collecting trinkets from our childhood or rejecting modernity with our technology. This collage is a way to showcase the transitions of color that we experience from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. Holding images of 2000’s cartoons, toys, cosmetic products, traditional Dominican meals, and more. It’s also a glimpse into my world as a queer woman of color and how culture influences that color. The viewer may discover that we share some similarities.
Future Lives, Past Lives, The Possibilities:
This poem is a piece of memory and hope for what time can hold. Although I describe my
possible future with dark colors, it still contains so much love for my best friend who I have
known for eight years and counting. It holds the possibility that we grow old together as Black
people in America and we can rest. The poem holds the idea that the dark, muted colors are not
always a problem, sometimes that is just how we see life in a moment. I’m not one to think
ahead into the future, because I can’t always visualize it and when I do, it’s explosive.
Elise will be receiving her BFA in Creative Writing with a concentration in poetry as well as a minor in Art History in May 2025. She plans to return to her home in Brooklyn, NY where she will continue to create art and new connections with other artists.
