Keywords

Puerto Rico, nostalgia, homesickness, home, art, mfa, fine art, paint, painting, photo, photography, collage, collaging, diaspora, diasporic, identity, Caribbean, Latin America, research, art practice, studio art, longing, grief, grieving, past, idealized, idealize, romanticized

Abstract

“A Place I Cannot Return To: Distance and Belonging” investigates how home is not limited to a fixed place, but instead a reconstruction sustained through memory and longing, which focuses on personal experiences of being away from Puerto Rico. I contribute to this broader dialogue by offering a deeply personal perspective shaped by the complexities of cultural belonging. Through photography, collage, and painting, my art practice reconstructs fragmented visual narratives of lived experience to explore homesickness, nostalgia, and displacement, examining how personal and shared histories become anchors to what continually slips away. Although I can physically return to Puerto Rico, the version I long for remains elusive and irretrievable, as the past inevitably pushes them away from the present. By sharing my work, I invite viewers to reminisce about home, nostalgia and the universal desire to belong.

Completion Date

2026

Semester

Fall

Committee Chair

Shannon Lindsey

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

School of Visual Arts and Design

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Identifier

DP0053160

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