Weaving the Faith (Tejiendo la Fé)

(2026)

Weaving the Faith is an installation that responds to the annual festivities of San Benito in Cabimas, Venezuela, my mother’s hometown, which I have attended since infancy. San Benito, one of the few Black saints in the Catholic tradition, is venerated in this region through processions marked by drumming, dance, and rum, poured in gratitude and in petition for help in difficult moments. Rooted in Afro-descendant practices, the celebration has expanded over time to become a shared, cross-community tradition.

The project will be developed and presented at gmtc, a 600 square foot performance laboratory in Chinatown, New York, a space that supports artists working across migratory practices.

I will transform rum into an algae-based yarn, following recipes from molecular gastronomy adapted by the biotextiles world that I have used in previous works. The process will unfold on site through repetition and accumulation. The yarn will then be suspended from the ceiling, forming an immersive environment that draws from the experience of walking within the procession, where participants are continuously showered with rum poured by devotees.

The project builds on my Tejiendo series, in which I transform materials into yarn as a way to engage memory, territory, and forms of attachment. Here, it responds to a nostalgia for practices and shared rituals, which, while grounded in my Venezuelan experience, speak to broader collective experiences.