Nine canvas tiles mounted on to a 24" x 24 wood panel

It is impossible to avoid beauty when visiting Puerto Rico. Especially in the capital of San Juan, where the patterns show both Puerto Rico’s colonial history, as well as its history and culture of liberation. San Juan has so much art per capita, I was surprised to see how much art covered every wall and corner of its streets, or how many unique and impressive art museums and galleries they had. I was enamored with this city of art, but was especially struck by the beauty in the Museum of Americas. Outside of one exhibit was a traditional Caribbean cart, painted red with bright, intricate designs.

To recreate the triangular design on the perimeter of the wheel, I used the center tile as a pivot point for my protractor and measured out every peak and valley of the pattern. Then, instead of using the design around the spoke of the wheel, I painted the center tile with a pattern from the body of the cart.

Finally, I used Posca markers to fill in the pattern, and slowly but surely, inspiration became realization.

San Juan