Samuel Lind: Portales

This exhibition was originally displayed at Taller Puertorriqueño in Philadelphia, and has now traveled to The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in Chicago.

The show is a portal not only to the spiritual world, but to the artist's studio in his hometown of Loíza, Puerto Rico.

This sculpture is a representation of Osain, a deity of wild plants and healers, according to Yoruba religion. Here Lind imagines the deity embodying the mangrove forest of Loíza. This maquette is a small rendition of a public sculpture that was displayed in the Botanical Garden in Caguas.

The artist is inspired by his ancestry and the culture of Loíza, which is known as the heart of Afro-Puerto Rican culture and nicknamed the "Capital of Traditions."

In his work, he calls attention to the dangers of climate change and gentrification, expanding on his work on Afro-Puerto Rican culture and identity.

This hand was created by Lind originally as a practical piece to hold his jewelry at his home. As it began to carry jewelry that is very precious to the artist in many aspects, including spiritually, the piece transformed into an object of power.

The coconut is one of many symbols in the show that reference the culture of Loíza.

Tierra Mujer presents mangroves as a sacred fertility goddess. Through it, Lind depicts the long-standing Loíza belief that a mangrove forest is a place of power where the surrounding community draws healing, support, and subsistence. The pose of the goddess also resembles that of the Atabeyra petroglyph found in Utuado, Puerto Rico and which represents the Taíno people’s goddess of fertility.

The figures included in the altar have been gifted to Lind or created by him.

Lind is inspired by Loíza's Afro-Caribbean traditions, such as bomba music and dance, which is emblematic of Puerto Rican culture in general. This painting depicts traditional bomba dance attire.

Lind is an artist dedicated to preservation, not only of Afro-Puerto Rican traditions and history, but also the natural environment.

Lind creates a blend of paintings and installation practices utilizing household objects, amulets, and totems, which channel the artist’s actual home and studio, as well as the presence of his hometown of Loíza.

This instrument is known as a pandero (a hand drum) and is used in bomba and plena music (often fused together as "bomba y plena"). This pandero was made my a local artisan in Loíza, and Lind includes it as part of an altar.

Serigraphy is Lind's preferred medium for capturing the colors of Loíza. Since the 1970s, he was commissioned by the Puerto Rican government to create silkscreen posters to promoted cultural events. While these types of posters are no longer common, Lind continues to use the technique to express the culture of his hometown, especially its famous festivities.

This poster depicts a bomba dancer and a bomba musician. In bomba performance, the musician follows the dancer.

This poster includes a vejigante mask under a patron saint. The vejigante is a folkloric character used in carnivals in Puerto Rico, such as the traditional festivities to honor Saint James.

Poster study for a spiritual practice congress.

Poster depicting a Benin Mask.

To bring hope to the people of Loíza and counter inaccurate racial narratives, this painting was created by Lind over an image of a Caucasian-looking Jesus. As development and deforestation were threatening the Loíza customs and way of life, Lind recognized the need for a Jesus who looked like the Afro-descendant community. By sharing a similar appearance, Jesus becomes a champion of the town and acknowledges the racial history of that area. Along the years, Lind kept building an altar around the figure with found objects and gifts given he received.