Perla Mabel

Perla Mabel is an Afro-caribbean multi-disciplinary artist. They were born in Boston, MA, and grew up both there and in the Dominican Republic. They deeply identify with their Domincan heritage, channeling themes of survival and recalling historical events and figures from their culture. Their practice reclaims their Blackness by incorporating satin fabrics used in rituals practiced in Santeria; they honor the people they paint by using the fabric as their canvas. Along with other fabrics, beads and objects in their paintings and installations in order to incorporate practices passed down from generations before them. From reclaiming spaces of vulnerability and trauma to highlighting joy and resilience, Mabel’s portraits expand the possibilities of Blackness in art as a healing and empowering act. Now they are creating “armor” fro her portraits in order to activate them during rituals and allow the participants to feel like art as they embody radical self love. They have organized mental health days for Boston’s emerging Black LGBTQ+  artists at public parks and their backyard. Their work has always broken barriers to create inclusion and accessibility to art. Taking on the role of an art historian they map out the narrative of these portraits expressing how art can be embodied and performed and that as an authentic experience is activism.