(in)visible: pair-a-dice Art Exhibition

(in)visible: pair-a-dice by artist, Kandy G Lopez.

Lopez is a multi-media figurative artist who works with multiple mediums to explore and experiment with issues such as race, gentrification, immigration, and defense mechanisms. As an Afro-Dominican American artist, she acknowledges that these topics are a part of her identity and are important to share with others. Lopez has previously worked with photography, ceramics, painting, drawing, collage, printmaking, and sculpture but has started to focus on glass as a medium. Lopez's venture into working with glass harkens back to her academic studies.

(in) visible: pair-a-dice, goes beyond the typical notion of the Caribbean as a paradise and explores colorism, economic disparity, and political trauma. Lopez revisits glass to use it as a metaphor for psychological transparency and the lack thereof. She explains that people of color often have a defense mechanism where they "act tough" in certain situations instead of allowing themselves to be transparent. This new body of work features stained-glass portraits of people of color and introduces a contemporary view of an ancient technique.

Lopez worked on (in) visible: pair-a-dice in 2023 as a part of the NACAN artist residency. Her travel to her maternal homeland, the Dominican Republic, further developed her artistic practice and allowed for deeper experimentation on glass. Using materials from her culture/heritage was exciting for Lopez. She states that being in her homeland and creating portraits of people who speak of her Taino, African, and European roots has indelibly impacted her work.