Pamela Ramos

BA Art and Visual Technology with Art History Minor

Artist Website: pamelaramos.com

ARTIST STATEMENT: As an artist, I focus on the folklore, history, and imagery that are significant and beloved to Puerto Rico. In this series of illustrations,  I explored social history in each of the scenes and individuals depicted. Photo albums and family members that shared their memories from Puerto Rico in the 1970s inspire me.

The first piece is titled “Minga y Petraca.” The scene depicts my mother and aunt walking from their house to church service on a Sunday morning. My mother reminisced about her and her sister wearing the same dresses every Sunday service, but most importantly, they always carried around girl purses no matter where they went. And People would refer to them as “Minga” and “Petraca,” the main characters of a comedy satire show produced in Puerto Rico. The show was iconic and popular until the 90s.

The second piece shows my father when he was a one-year-old baby. He is placed in the inside of a Jeep as if conducting the vehicle. My father is from a small hometown in the center of Puerto Rico called Jayuya. Riding ATVs is commonplace every day. Riding up into the mountains, kids in his family start riding their own early with ATV made for kids. There is also a strong Jeep culture and a few individual Jeeps that the family cherishes. On the Jeep’s wall in the illustration, there symbols quoting the Taínos, the native inhabitants of the island, that largely remained in Jayuya.        

In the third piece, childhood friendship and innocence are the main focus. My father, as a young kid with his cousin, is being shown. They were both born and raised in this intimate town of Puerto Rico. The figures are shown in the middle of flora, showing the symbolic flor de maga, the national flower of Puerto Rico. This illustration is also a tribute to the girl in the drawing, Sady.