ART TO HEAL: Sullay Yenisse Melo Aponte Shares her Story Behind her Art from Santurce es Ley, Puerto Rico
The sixth annual edition of Santurce es Ley, Puerto Rico’s urban art and music festival, is showcasing many young talented artists. Last year more than 10,000 people came to Calle Cerra daily. This is what local artists like, Sullay Yenisse Melo Aponte, enjoy about the Santurce es Ley Street art festival.
" It gives young artists like myself a lot of exposure. It's a wonderful venue."
Aponte is part of six local artists sharing a space in the Proyecto Local gallery. The piece she is sharing at the event is called "Destiempo" translation "Time." It is a life sized self portrait of the artist made of paper, beeswax, paraffin, quartz,glass, wire, and copper.
Aponte describes her piece as a "compass that marks the time late challenge, as inaccurate beats like the words devote at precise times. Every second loses its north and my body decomposes to compose a path of letters that define me; close with pity, distant with ignorance. And I hang, turned into the antithesis of my reality , as long as I am real, I will be immortal. Destiempo" was inspired by my life."
The event that inspired, Aponte, to create this self-portrait, was when she was told by doctors that she only had 6 months to live due to cancer found in her right ovary. She didin't share this devastating prognosis with anyone, not even her mother. "During the first three months I lost sixty lbs. Being so unaware of my body, I wanted a self-portrait that would leave a map of who I was. I used letters for the skin in the sculpure as text messages, letters, poems, conversations, fights, discussions. All these were dedications to me and I wanted that. I wanted to give others something more than a simple piece of art. I wanted them to experience it in itself to have power of knowing depth. I did not want nice words or looks of pity. I've always been a warrior and so managed to stop time. My heart sets my path and not any medical diagnosis. I made this piece during what I though was the last three months of my life. Working on this piece of art "saved me" and all I want is to continue healing people as my self portrait healed itself. This is why I make art and why I dared to share with all of you."
Artist Sullay Yenisse Melo Aponte is presently a student at the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras studying Fine Arts and photography. She hopes to finish her Bachlear's of Arts degree in May 2016. In 2014, Sullay studied at the University of Salamanca in Spain for a semester. She was born Bayamón, Puerto Rico.
The article comes with 8 photos: Photos of the sculpture, sculpture and artist together, details shots of the sculpture, and photo of the artist alone.
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