Kai Margarida-Ramírez
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in New Mexico, Margarida-Ramírez developed a unique perspective on postcolonial and feminist identity that anchored her work at Parsons. “In my second year,” she recalls, “faculty members Thomas Butter and Ernesto Pujol encouraged me to delve deeper into my family stories and examine what it means to use photographs taken by my great-great-grandmother.” Cutting and embroidering the photographs, she obscures faces and bodies, evoking the impermanence of memory.
Needlework and papel picado—traditional Mexican paper cutting—are tools through which Margarida-Ramírez explores craft, gender, and the lives of female relatives. “Embroidery and paper cutting are often considered feminine, crafts rather than fine art,” she explains. “Cutting into the paper and fiber, I insert my hand and myself into the untold histories of these Caribbean women,” says Margarida-Ramírez.
Margarida-Ramírez holds a BA in Sociology and Women Studies from the University of New Mexico. Her work is in the permanent collection of the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque and was included in the center’s exhibition Papel! Pico, Rico y Chico. In 2014, she was an Artist Fellow at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Today Margarida-Ramírez lives in Brooklyn and exhibits nationally.