Manera de Ser

Evan Rosato, MFA 2022, Printmaking

I use my experiences of being both Latinx and white as source material to explore the boundaries of race and identity. Through the use of materials such as flocked nylon fibers, charcoal, and quotidian objects that relate to my Latinx experience, I expand on the complexity of what it means to be Latinx by exploring Latino affect. My relationship to race and identity has been complicated. Growing up in Florida, I aimlessly defined myself as white because my frame of reference for brownness was tanned bodies of white people with darker complexion than mine. Living with my mother, who came to this country very young and had become Americanized, I did not grow up in a household where Latino identity was foregrounded. Not knowing the Spanish language stems from this upbringing. It has been a recent endeavor to consider myself as Brown and align myself with the deeper connection I feel to a Latinx experience. This interest in the color brown and the building up of brown surfaces in my work personifies this evolution of a Brown identity.