HOLYOKE — Local artist and Puerto Rican native Emily Roman invites the community to experience her “patria,” the Spanish word for homeland, through her first solo art exhibit on Wednesday, Sept. 16, in Holyoke.
The one-day exhibit, titled “Patria,” kicks off Hispanic Heritage Month events for Nueva Esperanza, a community development corporation dedicated to celebrating Holyoke’s Puerto Rican/Afro-Caribbean culture. Roman’s work will be on display at 6 p.m. at Nueva Esperanza’s Galeria, located at 413 Main St. in Holyoke.
Roman, who now lives in Greenfield, said “Patria” is a celebration of her homeland.
“I was born and raised in the island of Puerto Rico, and there’s always been a pride and nostalgia that comes with being here in the United States and being away from home, but always carrying those core memories,” Roman said. “To be able to showcase that through my art is very important to me.”
“Patria” mostly features acrylic paintings on wood or canvas, but Roman said there will be a mixed-media self-portrait made with both acrylics and oil paint, and a few collages on display as well.
She said her art has a whimsical style and depicts nature, food, and other representations of childhood memories and things she misses about the island.
“One thing we don’t have on the island is that we don’t have four seasons, so we don’t go through winter, fall, spring and summer; we just have summer all year long,” Roman explained. “So we get a taste of beauty all year long, and now I’m in a place where everything is seasonal. … It kind of makes you miss the stability of having your favorite things.
“It’s great being able to remember that, but it’s bittersweet having to long for it,” she continued. “I’m hoping with this art it brings out the pride of all the images we’re so familiar with and recognize that bring us home. I hope that it helps some people feel a little less homesick and a little more connected.”
For example, Roman said one piece of artwork that she believes represents her national pride, and the feeling of resiliency in culture even when away from home, is a painting she created of the Puerto Rican national flower, the flor de maga, on a broken cutting board.
“It’s meant to represent resilience — which, being on a beat-up cutting board is a message of itself — but it not only represents me as a young adult moving in the world today,” Roman said, “but as a Latina, always striving to connect and build community and rewrite narratives that sometimes get written for us.”
Roman said all the creations on display were made between 2017 and 2022, and she did not set out looking to put together a show dedicated to Puerto Rico, but when she saw Nueva Esperanza’s call for a Puerto Rican artist, she knew she had to apply.
Roman studied art at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, and since moving to Greenfield about 10 years ago, she has worked with local art galleries and taught exercise classes at Franklin County’s YMCA. While she has had her artwork included in group exhibits before, this will be her first solo show, and she said she can’t wait to share her pieces with the community.
“I’m still waiting to feel nervous. I’m just really excited,” Roman said. “It’s taken me 10 years to really showcase what my degree is … so this is gonna be a great new adventure.”
She said that she hopes to hold more events and art shows in the future, and she hopes that “Patria” inspires more people to put themselves out there and not be afraid of sharing their stories with their neighbors and community members.
“We are living in a world right now where I feel like we’re all on certain levels of walking on eggshells, not knowing, what can I share? How much vulnerability should I have?” Roman said. “Art tends to really help with connecting and pulling some of that vulnerability out.”
