This series of seven tessellations with different iterations is related to the aftermath of Hurricane Maria on the Island of Puerto Rico, which occurred in 2017. This piece was influenced by Islamic art, and Ai Weiwei’s large-scale tessellation wallpaper piece at the Hirshhorn Museum titled The Animal That Looks Like a Llama But Is Really an Alpaca, in which he utilized specific objects like handcuffed and security cameras to advocate for freedom of speech in China.

The tessellations consist of four main elements: a water jug, fallen power lines, clouds, and the color blue. In this iteration, the blue water jug represents the lack of food and water; meanwhile, its blue color is the same blue color of the tarps being used as roofs on the island, thus demonstrating the Hurricane’s damage on thousands of homes. The fallen power lines around the jugs of water represent the thousands of people left without power up to almost a year after the Hurricane, and to this day, the power grid in Puerto Rico is still faulty. The connecting element for each tile is a picture of storm clouds symbolizing Hurricane Maria.

This series was created using Adobe Illustrator.