My name is zaida adriana goveo balmaseda, I am a Puertorrican-Cuban artist/tejedora/meditadora currently based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
My practice is developed primarily through explorations with: organic, recycled and/or gathered fibers and materials, craft techniques to which I have a cultural or familial connection, energy and plant medicine, silence, and being alone-together. Cultivating awareness of the ever-present information in the field and working/weaving with what emerges in service to the web of allnesss.
My work manifests primarily as sacred spaces through sculptures, installations, ceremonies/rituals, publications, food, potions, and Shared Practice Sessions. Honoring the magic of the process, the journey, and the life force invested in humble actions that transform.
I have been awarded the El Serrucho Grant (Beta-Local) and the Lexus Grant for Artists (Lexus & Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico), and been an artist-in-residence at the Textile Arts Center, (New York), Beta Local’s La Práctica (San Juan, PR) arteFITS Foundation, (Dorado, PR), and El Depósito (Caguas, PR), as well as a fellow at succurro (East Meredith, NY) and The Studios at MASSMoCA (North Adams, Massachusetts). During the summer of 2022 I was the site-responsive artist resident at succurro, and in 2023 I returned for a collaborative site-responsive residency alongside 3 fellow artists and SourcePoint Therapy practitioners. I was part of NATURA, the inaugural exhibition of the Arte Yunque Program at El Portal de El Yunque National Forest, in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico in 2023-24, and have returned as a collaborator for this years’ exhibition called Ensayos with artist Leila Mattina.
I am currently available for commissions, collaborations, exhibitions, workshops, and energy-work sessions. See my offerings here, and/or email me if you would like to explore any of these ways of relating.
Contact:
zagb@balmaseda.com
www.instagram.com/zaidibirin
