Born in the Dominican Republic, Wildriana María de Jesús Paulino is an interdisciplinary artist and educator. She holds a BFA from The Cooper Union School of Art and is currently an educator at The Bronx Museum. In 2022, Wildriana participated in the New York Latin American Art Triennial (NYLAAT) and exhibited Maternity Figure, a life-size installation resulting from her research on femicide (the normalized killing of women for being women). A recipient of the 2022 Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation Prize and a 2023-2024 178Studio artist-in-residence at Conerstone Studios, Wildriana's collaborations include Women's Strike NYC and The Audubon Society. She has exhibited her work at diverse organizations, including the Bronx River Art Center (BRAC) and NYLAAT, where she is in line for the Governors Island Summer 2024 Residency.
Statement
My work explores the relationship between womanhood and nature, using this connection as a catalyst for reclaiming autonomy. It also questions the modes of subjugation female agency and bodies have been subject to throughout society and its many politics.
Interdisciplinary, I use historical, mythical, and personal lenses to delve into the diverse facets of the female experience free from external scrutiny.
I depict the body as a vessel for self-reclamation, akin to a caterpillar in its cocoon or my upbringing in a matriarchal household, autonomously growing and transforming. My work spotlights the expansive and inward qualities of femininity and celebrates its inherent strength and resilience. It reimagines the body as an independent entity that creates itself through modes of autogenesis, and utilizes nature as a place of reference and refuge.
CV
Education
2022 The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, BFA
Solo Exhibitions
2022 Para nunca escocer - To Never Ache, The Cooper Union, New York
2017 Introduction, The City College of New York, New York
Group Exhibitions
2023 Scaling Nature, Bronx River Art Center, (The BRAC), New York
2022 Abya Yala, NY Latin American Art Triennial, Governors Island, New York
2022 EOYS, The Cooper Union, New York
2022 12 x 12 x 12, The Cooper Union, New York
2021 Diversidad Juntos, ArteLatAm, Virtual Exhibition
2021 1(800) Support, The Cooper Union, New York
2021 Viva La Memento Mori, AHA Fine Art, New York
2021 AfreeCAN, Chashama Gallery, New York
2021 EOYS, The Cooper Union, New York
2021 Social Reckoning, eMele-K, Abrazo Interno Gallery, New York
2020 For the Love of Art: An Appropriated Intentions Exhibition, Fort George Hill, New York
2020 Annual Members Exhibition, Robert Blackburn Printshop, New York
2020 EOYS, The Cooper Union, Virtual Exhibition
2019 EOYS, The Cooper Union, New York
2018 Untitled Show 3, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, New York
2018 YES, Saturday Program at Cooper Union, New York
2017 Uptown Triennial, The Studio Museum in Harlem in conjunction with Miriam and Ira D.
Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University, New York
2017 La Casa, La Casa, New York
2017 Impressions, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
Residencies / Awards
2024 NYLAAT, Artist in Residence, Governors Island, NY (forthcoming)
2023-24 Cornerstone 178Studio Artist in Residence, New York, NY
2022 Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation Prize
2021 Sylvia Appelman Painting Award
School of Art at the Cooper Union Grant recipient
The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation Grant recipient
2020 The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation Grant recipient
Young Blackburn Print Fellow, Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop
2019 Pinta Tu Patria, Dominican Embassy, First place
Innovator Scholarship, The Cooper Union, New York, NY
2018 Merit Scholarship, The Cooper Union, New York, NY
We Support Creativity, Undergraduate World Award recipient
2017 Harlem Postcard Photography Competition, First Place
Bibliography
2023 Pine Warbler by Wildriana Paulino, Audubon Mural Project
2022 Cientos de artistas de toda latinoamérica exponen en trienal de Nueva York, El Pulso, SLP, México
2022 Senior Snapshots: School of Art 2022, The Cooper Union
2022 Wildriana Paulino: To Never Ache, Interview by Beez and Honey Podcast- Nicollette Ramirez
2022 30 Seconds In The Studio, The Cooper Union
2021 Wildriana Paulino, artista dominicana, eleva la voz de las mujeres con su arte, Interview by ArteLatAm
Public Projects
2022 Mural painting for Audubon Society, NYC
2021 Mural painting for Collectivo Amarante
2021 Design for Women Strike NYC
2020 Public art in conjunction with Women Strike NYC
Professional Experience
2023 Museum Educator, The Bronx Museum, Bronx, New York
2021 Intern at Pace Paper Prints, New York
2020 Intern at Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, New York
2020-21 Sculpture Instructor, Saturday Program at The Cooper Union, New York
2020 Assistant to Director, ArteLatAm, New York
2017-19 Gallery Assistant at Kenkeleba House, Wilmer Jennings Gallery, New York