Donté Hayes (b. 1975, Baltimore, Maryland, lives and works in Cliffwood, New Jersey and Atlanta, Georgia)
Rather than relying on singular imagery or direct representation, Pérez constructs a layered visual language that embeds diasporic, Indigenous, and popular knowledge into his materials, creating works rich in symbolic depth and meaning.
Donté Hayes’s ceramic practice is a dynamic fusion of symbolism, history, and materiality. His work bridges past and future, drawing from the deep cultural roots of the African Diaspora while embracing speculative and futuristic influences, such as science fiction. The interplay between organic textures, like those of coral reefs, and cultural references, such as hip-hop and the pineapple’s historic symbolism of hospitality, creates a dialogue that is both personal and universally resonant. The meticulous, hand- carved surfaces in pieces like Impress (2021) reflect an intimate engagement with material and process. Each individual mark, made with a needle tool, contributes to a collective textural narrative—echoing the layered histories and identities embedded in the African Diaspora. By connecting these elements to broader social issues, Hayes’s work transcends traditional ceramic art, offering a space for reflection on history and community. His practice is a testament to the power of craft as a medium for storytelling, resistance, and transformation.
Firelei Báez (b. 1981, Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, lives and works in New York)
Firelei Báez’s work reimagines diasporic narratives, blending mythology, history, and speculative futures to challenge fixed ideas of identity. Drawing from folklore, science fiction, and fantasy, her intricate large-scale works and immersive installations present fluid and evolving histories. In Palmas for Martí (novias que no esperan) (2016), Báez depicts ciguapas , mythical trickster figures from Hispaniola. Their presence is suggested through a blur of feet and a lush canopy, emphasizing themes of resistance to colonial legibility and the mutability of identity. By merging historical references with myth, Báez offers a vision of the past not as fixed, but as a space full of potential futures, reclaiming agency for those historically marginalized.
Jeffrey Gibson (b. 1972, Colorado Springs, CO, lives and works in New York)
Esteban Ramón Pérez (b. 1989, Los Angeles, California, lives and works in Los Angeles, California)
Jeffrey Gibson is known for his immersive, multi-sensory artworks and installations that weave together diverse cultural influences, from Indigenous traditions, to abstraction, and American iconography. His work employs bold geometric formats, combining painting, glass bead-encrusted frames, and embedded text to transform language into a powerful tool for both resistance and celebration. In works like My Memory Serves Me Far Too Well (2018), Gibson reclaims and recontextualizes the language of historical oppression, turning it into a statement of opposition to tyranny and affirmation of cultural identity.
Esteban Ramón Pérez’s interdisciplinary practice explores the intersections of materiality and iconography, examining their implications in relation to subcultures, labor, and socio-political histories. His work is multifaceted, as seen in Caltrop (2022), a suspended monochromatic black sculpture incorporating boxing gloves, mulato and pasilla chiles, and a plumage of pheasant and rooster tail feathers. These objects engage with the tradition of vanitas in art history—symbolizing life’s transience—while also reflecting Pérez’s personal and cultural subjectivity, shaped by his early upbringing in an upholstery shop.
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