English, Entrevistas

Impressions of Belonging: A Conversation with Elisa Dore

Posted on by estefanía vallejo santiago
15
Sep

Figure 1: Elisa Dore, Circular Migration, 2026, Woodcut on muslin, steel, 52 x 288 in.

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Título: Impresiones de pertenecer: Una Conversación con Elisa Dore
Title: Impressions of Belonging: A Conversation with Elisa Dore


Autor / Author: estefanía vallejo santiago
Art History PhD Candidate, Florida State University


Resumen: estefanía vallejo santiago entrevista a la artista puertorriqueña ubicada en Atlanta, Elisa Dore, sobre su práctica de grabado y el pertenecer. Usando fotografías familiares, la cultura puertorriqueña y la geografía de Puerto Rico y el sur de los Estados Unidos como punto de partida, Dore discute cómo la distancia y la herencia le dan forma a su puertorriqueñidad. La conversación gira en torno al grabado como archivo; el tallado, la transferencia, repetición y labor material le da forma física a la memoria y verbaliza el desplazamiento. Obras como Circular Migration (2026), Herramienta (2025) y How Islands Are Formed (2026) exploran la representación de Puerto Rico, figuras en el paisaje y la manera en que Dore utiliza la escala, la instalación y las rejas para mostrar qué se transfiere a través de lugares.

Abstract: estefanía vallejo santiago interviews Atlanta-based Puerto Rican artist Elisa Dore about her printmaking practice on belonging. Using family photos, Puerto Rican culture, and geography of Puerto Rico and the U.S. South, Dore discusses how distance and inheritance shape her Puerto Ricanness. The conversation covers printmaking as both grabado and record, with carving, transfer, repetition, and material labor giving memory physical form and a language for displacement. Works like Circular Migration (2026), Herramienta (2025), and How Islands Are Formed (2026) explore representing Puerto Rican land, figures in landscape, and Dore’s use of scale, installation, and rejas to show what is carried across places.


Palabras clave: Elisa Dore, Puerto Rico, grabado, arte puertorriqueño, diáspora, migración, paisaje, memoria, el Sur estadounidense

Keywords: Elisa Dore, Puerto Rico, printmaking, Puerto Rican art, diaspora, migration, landscape, memory, U.S. South

Sección: Inglés / Section: English

Cita recomendada: vallejo santiago, estefanía. “Impressions of Belonging: A Conversation with Elisa Dore” Visión Doble: Revista de Crítica e Historia del Arte, 15 de septiembre de 2026, humanidades.uprrp.edu/visiondoble

estefanía vallejo santiago

estefanía vallejo santiago is a scholar, artist, writer, and educator from Carolina, Puerto Rico. Within her work, she focuses on modern and contemporary art. Her research, rooted in decolonial theory, Caribbean feminist thought, and critical race methodologies, explores how visual and performative practices engage collective memory, challenge colonial structures, and affirm place-based identities. As a PhD candidate at Florida State University, she works on her dissertation, “Puerto Rican Muralism: A Critical History of Place, Communal Identity, and Politics.” Throughout her practice, she strives to amplify marginalized voices and speak to power underrepresented communities.

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