EFA STUDIO PROGRAM: Member Artists
Yali Romagoza
I am an interdisciplinary artist born in Cuba, offering a unique perspective on issues related to migration and the traumatic impact of political and cultural displacement on the female body. My work is rooted in my diverse background and education as an Art Historian, Fashion Designer, and Educator. I use various mediums such as performance, video installations, photography, collage, and conceptual costume design. As a Cuban immigrant, I created an alter-ego, Cuquita La Muñeca Cubana, to establish a cultural home in the U.S. art scene where I often don't feel included or represented. Through my alter-ego, I illustrate how I exist in an in-between cultural space of belonging and non-belonging, addressing feminist marginalization while mocking the misogynistic and racist stereotypes that affect Latinas in the U.S. Cuquita La Muñeca Cubana is a reference to 'cuquitas cubanas,' a paper doll cutout distributed in magazines in Cuba during my childhood. Instead of playing with Barbies, I played with Cuquitas. Cuquita La Muñeca Cubana is how I render myself visible within the U.S. context. As a child, I endured the trauma of living through the great economic depression in Cuba. During this time, I found refuge within myself and understood my body as a space for survival. I build my work from this autobiographical story, which becomes a platform to share the vulnerability, displacement, and otherness I have experienced. Through my work, I also raise critical questions about the erasure of Latina migrant artists within the mainstream art system and encourage viewers to reflect on issues of discrimination and social injustice. My background as a fashion designer supports me in expanding the aesthetic of Cuquita La Muñeca Cubana by crafting unique costumes that shift the behavioral patterns of her body and the artistic spaces she occupies. I use collage to transform into my alter-ego, Cuquita, The Cuban Doll, by cutting out eyes and lips from print media and placing them directly onto my face. I apply paint to my face and hands and wear wigs in many colors. The act of disguising my body, disappearing, and becoming "others" freed me from assumptions about race, country of origin, or cultural identity. Cuquita La Muñeca Cubana has found the visibility and acceptance I have never experienced, neither as a person nor an artist.
Yali Romagoza works at the intersection of performance, design, art, and education. She integrates prior professional fashion design experience with extensive visual art practice in various media, including photography, video, installations, and experimental costume design. She has presented work at The Immigrant Artist Biennial, Art In Odd Places, Satellite Art Show, Abrons Art Center, EFA Project Space, and PS122 gallery. She has been granted awards and residencies, including Franklin Furnace, SVA Art Residency, EmergeNYC, Queens Art Fund, EFA Studio program, and New York Latin American Art Triennial (NYLAAT) residency at Governors Island. In 2022, Ediciones Rialta in Spain published her book "Cuquita La Muñeca Cubana. " with a selection of her most critically acclaimed performances. Romagoza has a BA in Art History from the University of Havana in Havana, Cuba, and an MFA in Fashion Design from The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, US.
