Patricia Encarnación

Patricia Encarnación (she/they) is an Afro-Dominican interdisciplinary artitvist and scholar. Her work explores Caribbean culture by challenging tropical aesthetics with an anti-colonial lens.

Encarnación participated in multiple residencies such as Smack Mellon as a Van Lier fellow, MuseumsQuartier Vienna, Kovent Catalonia, and Silver Arts Project residency at the World Trade Center. Her work has been selected twice in The Centro Leon Jiménez Biennial, obtaining the prize bestowed by the city of Cádiz (Spain) for cultural immersion and a fellowship in Martinique as part of a Tropiques Atrium Caribbean art program. Encarnación has exhibited in places such as Documenta 15th, Afro Syncretic at NYU, I am New Afro Latinx at MOLAA, CA, and Tribeca Artist Program Award. Besides being an actively exhibiting artist, Encarnación has also delved into curatorial practices in spaces such as ChaShama and alternative gallery spaces in NYC and Miami, and the Dominican Republic.

works

  • Limerencia Tropical

    Tropical Limerence III: Martinique Series

    Tropical Limerence is rooted in the idea of limerence, a term coined by psychologist Dorothy Tennov in the 1970s to describe an obsessive, all-consuming attraction. In her book Love and Limerence: The Experience of Being in Love, Tennov discusses how trauma can warp a person's understanding of love, leading to confusion between real love and other intense emotions. This often results in unhealthy relationships, where people mistake obsessive longing and desire for genuine love, illustrating the key dynamic of limerence.

    Focusing on the Caribbean and the Global South, Patricia Encarnación explores the concept of Tropical Limerence and it serves as a foundation for exploring emotional and psychological dynamics through her artwork. Particularly how these dynamics influence social and international relationships. Encarnación proposes that limerence plays a significant role in global injustices and toxic international relationships.

    The artist focuses on BIPOC communities and how they perceive themselves in relation to the Global North. The Tropical Limerence series, in its multiple incarnations, through either film or ceramics, documents the experiences of female-identified individuals, focusing on how love, healing, and intersectional practices are used to combat struggles and traumas in these regions.

    The works in the gallery are from the Tropical Limerence III: Martinique Series, which explores self-perception in relation to the Global North, particularly focusing on France as the colonizer.