Samantha Castro is a New Jersey based Puerto Rican artist currently pursuing her BFA in Fine Arts here at NJCU. She is a painter that has experimented with various mediums which influences her practice and overall aesthetic in her works.
Rooted in Protection, 2024 Mixed Media is a fitting example of how Samantha creates imagery while also exploring themes that are personal to her like cultural preservation, identity, and use of iconography. Every element that is put into the piece contributes to its significance— the lace (purity), Taíno symbols (heritage), and red mask (protection/identity).
When I see her work I sense a feeling of longing, there’s an urgency to sustain that connection but beneath that is an uncertainty with the façade of nostalgia. While she is working towards a collective work of paintings that focus on this personal aspect, it also opens discussion for how displacement affects the people of Puerto Rico.
Connecting to current day gentrification, her painting in progress highlights the decay of one of her family’s abandoned houses in Puerto Rico being reclaimed by Coquí. It creates this narrative of both the house and Coquí giving each other a new life but, acknowledging the privilege of gentrifiers buying land and displacing native Puerto Ricans while simultaneously harming the Coquí (native frog to the area). While it’s highlighting the issue, Samantha is also using this as a way to uplift and pay homage to her culture and identity.
I find Samantha’s work to be moving, it’s personal to her and creates a narrative that allows others to enter her world. Looking at her pieces as a collective gets the audience to know her as an artist, her motivation comes through and with that I’d say it’s good art. The message/meaning behind her works is very layered and leaves room for us to dissect.
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