Daniel Lind-Ramos was born in 1953 in Loiza, Puerto Rico, where he still lives and works. Loiza is a coastal town northeast of San Juan. It was settled in the 16th Century by enslaved Africans from the Yoruba tribe. Their cuisine, music, and art have played a major role in Lind-Ramos’s art.
He received a B.A. in painting from the University of Puerto Rico (1975) and a M.A. from New York University (1980). He studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris in 1989. Lind-Ramos currently serves as a senior Professor in the Humanities Department of the University of Puerto Rico at Humancao.
A painter and performance artist, Lind-Ramos is best-known for his large sculptures made of found objects. They are plentiful in a place subject to hurricanes and other storms. Ever since 1912, when Picasso began using found objects to make art, ready-made and assemblage have become popular and accepted art forms.
Preservation of the history of his homeland became an important theme for Lind-Ramos. Sentinels (2013) (114”x120’’x48”) (Whitney Museum) honors the history of the black militias who played a major role in defeating the English who attempted to invade Puerto Rico in 1797. Armed with whatever they had, farmers, charcoal burners, and fishermen defended their homeland. The militia men in Sentinels have hoe faces, and torsos made of rolled burlap bound by green, blue, and yellow cord. Pieces of iron bars form their arms, and their shields are cauldrons. Their legs are agricultural tools. The central figure is the tallest and is distinguished from the others with a sewed on red strip. The blue, green, yellow, and red bindings are the colors of the Puerto Rican flag. Over his shoulders are the white reins of a cart holding a large caldron in which a germinating coconut tree rests on a bed of sand. The coconut tree provides essential elements for both physical and spiritual life. At both sides of the sentinels are columns made of coconuts. The blue background represents the sky, and the green the mango forests that populate the island.
Con-Junto (The Ensemble) (2015) (114’’x120’’x48’’) depicts Bomba musicians. They and their instruments are composed of cymbals, a trumpet, a speaker, maracas, bongos, boots, a sneaker, working gloves, basketballs, boxing gloves, sequins, acrylic paint, awning material, plastic rope, fabric, pins, duct tape, aluminum, nails, metal buckets, paint buckets, floor sweepers, casseroles, palm branches, dried coconuts, palm tree trunk, wood panels, burlap, machetes, leather, and ropes. These items not only have been found by the artist himself, but they also have been contributed by family, friends, neighbors, and strangers.
Bomba is the oldest traditional music of the Americas. It was the music of enslaved Africans brought to the islands. Bomba is a form of spiritual expression in times of both rebellion and community building. The rhythm is set by the dancers who are accompanied by hand drums (barriles), wooden sticks (cua), and maracas.
Figura de Poder (Power Figure) (2016-18) (108”x60”x47”) (NGA) is a vejigante, a traditional and popular symbol of Puerto Rico. The piece is constructed of mirrors, concrete blocks, cement bag, sledge hammer, construction stones bag, paint bucket, wood panels, palm tree trunk, burlap, leather, ropes, sequins, awning, plastic ropes, fabric, trumpet, pins, duct tape, maracas, a sneaker, tambourine, working gloves, basketballs, boxing gloves, and acrylic paint. A traditional figure from 12th Century Spain, the vejigante wore a face mask with horns that originally represented the Moors who were defeated by St. James. Vejiga (inflated cow bladders) were carried in parades and used by the vejigante to bop parade watchers. Today the vejigante are beloved figures in Carnival celebrations, wearing their flowing robes and demonic masks.
Lind-Ramos’s family were artisans who made masks and costumes. Today the masks are mostly made in Loiza and Ponce. Figura de Poder has a tambourine face and several arms that play a number of instruments. The figure was part of the Afro-Atlantic Histories exhibit in 2012 at the National Gallery of Art. The work was the first piece by a Puerto Rican artist to be purchased for the permanent collection.
On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. It was catastrophic for Loiza and the rest of Puerto Rico. Maria-Maria (2019) (89”x39”x43”) (Whitney Museum) represents the Virgin Mary but also is a reference to the hurricane. Mary is a protector figure, but the storm Maria was a destroyer. Most noticeable is Maria’s blue gown made of plastic tarps that were distributed by FEMA. Other materials include a metal basin, wooden seat, lamp, coconuts, palm tree trunk, steel sheet, rope, beads, fabric, tacks, wood, plastic tubing, bubble wrap, steel bars, scissors, a wooden box, umbrella frame, and a solar-powered camping lantern. Lind-Ramos intended the powerful image of Mary to represent the resilience and strength of the people of Puerto Rico. In an interview in 2020 with Art Fuse Magazine, Lind-Ramos commented, “In our communities we find healing in solidarity. After Maria we did not wait for the (United States) government to help us; we decided to help ourselves with what we had
Maria-Maria is one of three monumental assemblage sculptures of the Virgin Mary created by Lind-Ramos. The other two are Bano de Maria (The Cleansing) (2018-22), a depiction of thunder and lightning, and Maria de los Sustentos (Mary of Nourishment) (2020-2021). Maria Guabencex (2018-22) (110”x84”x 148”) (SAAM) depicts the eye of the hurricane with the spiraling wind and the churning water. Among the objects caught up by the wind is a piece of siding from Lind-Ramos’s house. The wood building is a barraca, a temporary protective structure.
Lind-Ramos received the NADA Miami Artadia Award in 2019 and in 2021 a MacArthur Foundation Award in recognition of the significance of his art. The Award also is called the “genius grant.” Each grantee receives $625,000 over a period of five years to pursue his work. Lind-Ramos stated, “I can pay tribute to traditional Afro-descendant communities through the presentation of the materials and practices that represent us.”
Sentinels of the New Moon (2022-23) (108”x100”x100”) is a depiction of el viaejos (Spanish slang word for old men, but like fathers or close friends) as sentinels. The face of the tallest figure is a white halo, and a small blue mask. The mirror-mouth is a portal for the ancestors, but at the same time it reflects negative energies. The other figures represent various aspects of Puerto Rican life: agriculture, cooking, and fishing.
The title New Moon is a specific reference to the need to preserve the mangrove forests, an endangered species, and the ecosystem in general. Mangroves are important because their dense roots act as buffers to the force of waves, and the leaves serve as windbreakers. Young fish feed on and hide among the roots that also filter toxins from the water. Scientists are developing strategies to assure the survival of the mangrove forests.
This aspect of the work gives the viewer an opportunity to discover some of the items the artist used to create the piece. Found objects include a welding mask, a hoe, machetes, a camera tripod, shovels, parts of an electric fan, a drum, a wooden crab trap, a plastic bucket, a punching bag, ropes, mirrors, and coconut plants.
At the center is a section of mangroves tended by the figures.
Lind-Ramos continues to produce work about his beloved Loiza and contemporary societal issues. His work is included in the world famous 61st International Venice Biennale (2026).
“My intention was to find a language, find a process, find materials that established the link between our collective experience and somehow bring something different but authentic.” (Daniel Lind-Ramos)
