Bio
Jocmarys Viruet Feliciano is an artist from Puerto Rico who focuses on Papermaking and Book Arts. She has a bachelor's degree in Visual Arts from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus and a master’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of Iowa Center for the Book. Jocmarys has worked as an intern at the Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as an assistant to Timothy Barrett at the UI Center for the Book Oakdale Paper Research & Production Facility, and again during his class at Rare Book School at the University of Virginia. Jocmarys is a recipient of an Iowa Arts Fellowship and a UI Graduate College Diversity Fellowship. Her first experience in papermaking was in 2014 as an exchange student in South Korea. Jocmarys has taught several bookbinding and papermaking workshops in Puerto Rico in places like Taller Lapaduma, MUSA in Mayagüez, Museo Casa del Libro in San Juan and Arecibo Boys & Girls Club of Puerto Rico. Her Artist’s Books are part of Special Collections like University of Miami, University of Iowa, Yale University and University of Pennsylvania.
Artist Statement
My artistic practice focuses on my experiences as an islander, the good and the bad, the joys as well as the hurricanes that come with living in Puerto Rico. Through my art, I explore my ancestry, the concept of healing and identity, the decolonization of the Latin American mind, and the exploration of energetic bodies that are not visible. Book Arts and handmade paper have allowed me to manipulate aspects of my pieces from the beginning and in conversation with the material, giving me the opportunity to carry out research and experiments with my materials until I reach the aesthetics and form that I desire. Harvesting, cooking, sewing, ripping, stretching and natural dyeing are some of the processes that I incorporate the most in my work as I focus on the qualities of the fiber, textile, written and visual language and, the book form as a whole.