Recent Works by Julia Santos Solomon
Works include an Oral History Project at the Smithsonian American Arts Archives, a site specific installation, "In Memoriam," in Woodstock New York, and work "Caribbean Thoughts" at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, New York.
I am currently creating an oral history for the Smithsonian, recounting my life. The recordings are available to researchers who will reference them for dissertations, exhibitions, catalogs, articles, and books on American Art. My intention is to be an example for future generations in overcoming obstacles of race and economic circumstances to create the life they dream of. Additionally, during Summer 2020, I participated in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art Pandemic Oral History Project. To document the cascade of public health, social, and financial crises set in motion by COVID-19, the Archives of American Art created an oral history series that recorded responses to the global pandemic across the American art world.
My art installation "In Memoriam" is featured in the Spring 2021 issue of the Smithsonian Archives of American Art Journal. "In Memoriam" is a site specific installation on display in Woodstock NY where material crosses were created to represent victims of COVID-19 and victims of police brutality. This project was born out of the need to facilitate a place for people to mourn the loss of loved ones. I myself lost four people to COVID and this prompted the conversation for this project. George Washington University in D.C. was given a grant to examine new ways of manifesting loss during the pandemic. "In Memoriam" is featured on their website as a part of this research.
In September 2020 I was selected to display my work "Caribbean Thoughts" at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, New York. The exhibition titled "Women to the Fore" commemorated the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote in the United States. Women to the Fore explores art from different eras and mediums, and highlights the continuing effort of Women still fighting for freedom from an oppressive patriarchy, and expanded feminist art theory which has grown to embrace intersectionality: the interconnected nature of race, class, and gender. "Caribbean Thoughts" was used as the promotional piece for the exhibition. My art was displayed alongside works by Georgia O’Keeffe, Mary Cassatt, Louise Nevelson, and several other groundbreaking women artists spanning several decades.
