Special Collections conservator at UConn, Natalie Granados, had her art featured at Homer Babbidge Library. Granados’ featured works are vivid depictions of places Granados has visited brought to life digitally through Adobe Draw. Places she has been such as the Dominican Republic where she was raised and New Orleans where she lived for a period of her life and views from the Detroit River.
Granados went to art school during her undergraduate career in the Dominican Republic, then finished her degree at Parsons School of Design for Illustration. Granados says she was inspired to make her own exhibit after she witnessed a faculty member’s artwork on display. “About a year ago I saw an exhibit from someone that was a part of the community, she had been a faculty member and a light bulb went off and I thought maybe I can do this,” Granados said. Granados says her artwork is a passion of hers that she has been working on her whole life. Besides the art exhibit, she dedicated much of her time to creating art through different mediums. Granados previously owned business where she sold artwork and made clothing. Granados says she recently started to portray her latinidad through art, something she had not done before. Granados’ inspiration came from her recent visit to the Dominican Republic, and now she is tying much of her artwork to things from her visit such as flowers and houses that drew her attention while she was there. One thing Granados hopes to highlight more within art is creating work that speaks of street harassment and violence against women. We applaud Natalie’s work and look forward to her future works.
-Contributed by Jareliz Diaz
