I am their joy

I Am Their Joy is a celebration of ancestral inheritance. Rather than centering only the grief carried through generations, this painting imagines the joy, love, and resilience our ancestors also passed down to us. The figure’s radiant expression emerges from flowing forms that evoke water, sky, and the living landscape, while branching lines behind her suggest family, roots, and the unseen connections that bind us across time. As a Dominican-American artist, I explore Indigenous understandings of identity as something inseparable from land, memory, and community. This work reflects my belief that home is not only where we live, but what we carry through our ancestors. Their joy lives within us, connecting us to place, heritage, and future generations.