Lusmerlin’s The Uncatchable Ciguapa opens a portal to another world, a world in which ethereal mythical creatures exist and walk among us. Ciguapas are a part of Dominican folklore, described as having a female figure with long locks of hair that cover their body and backward facing feet. Due to the backward nature of their steps, they are almost impossible to follow, effectively rendering them uncatchable.
In The Uncatchable Ciguapa, now on view at Nuestras Raices through October 28, 2024, Lusmerlin doesn’t hold our hand, but rather encourages us to dive into her world and see it through our own eyes.
I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Lusmerlin about her life experiences, her relationship with her culture, her journey of personal growth, and femininity. We discussed how each of these facets has informed her artistic process, what she lovingly refers to as “controlled chaos”, and her storytelling in this powerful new exhibit.
Lusmerlin: I grew up on the north side of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. It’s a region that is very interesting. We [immigrants] experience this sense of reevaluating our identity and looking back to all the things that were normal for us [in order] to reshape the idea [of who we are], but also selecting what is closest to our heart. I am in that process, doing this installation that looks at the folklore of the Tainos that is full of things that some of us believed existed when we were kids. You believe that ‘El Cuco’ is going to come and take you if you’re not good, or that there’s a ‘Galipote’ shape shifting in the middle of the road. Then, when someone disappears sometimes you actually believe these things. The place where I’m from is very much like that.
The folklore, mythology, and spirituality remains [alive] in those small towns. I’m in the process of exploring all these different layers of heritage: the things we believe, the stories that accompany us. I started with La Ciguapa because I’m really interested in femininity and the concept of the womanly body in space, my body in space, my body in different places, especially as it relates to immigration.
Adriana Vélez: What does La Ciguapa mean to you as an artist and in the context of this exhibition?
Lusmerlin: For me, La Ciguapa comes back to the idea of who I am as a woman. I think it is very interesting coming to another place. I came to work in Carroll County and I worked in the mining industry, which is very male dominated. There were many behaviors that were expected or considered normal. [There were] cultural changes from what a woman does here to what a woman does there [in the Dominican Republic]. My artwork mirrored this tension. I had started envisioning performances where I was covered in hair, and it was about some of those standards of beauty and everything you are doing trying to meet certain standards to feel beautiful.
I’m a big hair person. When I grew up in the DR, having natural hair was not beautiful or professional. When I cut my hair and I let my [natural] hair out, people said very terrible things to me on the street or in certain circles. What I realized was that I was channeling a lot of this hair theme: hair covering the body, very long hair being dragged. In many of these ideas I was talking about myself and my body. The fact that La Ciguapa is covering herself with her hair was parallel to something that’s very important for me, that I’ve had a big journey of expression with.
There was so much that through some conversations I realized, “Wow, I keep channeling this figure and I should feature La Ciguapa in an installation,” because the reference was so obvious at that point. Having La Ciguapa in an immersive installation is my way of conveying the experience and also of not seeing art in a 2D plane.
What was enticing about making an immersive installation is that it creates a world that feels and tells someone else: how do I experience my world, my identity, and being in my skin? How is this internal world communicated to someone else?
My paintings are very big. I work with my hands and move my whole body. I want to put an experience in front of the viewer that feels equally otherworldly and magical so that you’re stepping into it, not just looking at something on the wall. You’re going to see fun, seduction, people fighting over La Ciguapa, the moment where she [La Ciguapa] dies when she’s finally caught. There’s verses, poetry, and energy. It’s beyond simply making a piece of art or telling you a tale; it’s seeing the entire chaos and discovery of creating.