‘I try never to lose that touch with Puerto Rico’: Local artists connect with their Hispanic roots

BUFFALO N.Y. (WIVB) — One Western New York couple shares their journey as Boricuas and Buffalonians through their art of painting and pottery.

“It’s all controlled chaos,” Hector Morales said while working on his latest masterpiece, a painting of a Puerto Rican woman dancing.

Hector is a veteran and his art offers him therapeutic relief.

“I feel like anytime I’m getting anxious or anything, I always find myself working on some type of art,” he said.

He unlocked his talent as an artist when he was 9 years old, shortly after moving to Buffalo from Puerto Rico. His work paints vibrant depictions of Puerto Rico’s culture and history.

“Throughout my life I try never to lose that touch with Puerto Rico through my art. I always try to keep that connection,” he said. “We have a very rich culture so it’s pretty easy for me to dig into our culture and pick things that allow me to tell our story.”

“It’s very important for him to tell the stories of our history, good and bad,” Hector’s wife Gliset said.

Gliset was always inspired by her husband’s creativity. One day the couple took a pottery class together and joke about what happened next.

“He was horrible at it but I was really good at it,” Gliset said. “I had a knack for it.”

Gliset is also using art to connect with her roots.

“It is really through pottery that has allowed me to connect to that part of my Latino heritage, which is very specific to the island of Puerto Rico and the indigenous Taino people,” Gliset said.

The Taino people used the technique hand coiling, which requires a steady hand and plenty of patience. As if it was molded in her DNA, Gliset was a natural.

“I just continue to learn and push myself to try new things with clay,” she said.

The couple has dreams of opening a studio one day to help people unlock their own potential.

“Art itself diversifies everything,” Hector said. “Say you get someone doing a clay, and someone doing art classes, the mix of people that come together allow them to learn more about themselves.”

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Sarah Minkewicz is an Emmy-nominated reporter and Buffalo native who has been a part of the News 4 team since 2019. Follow Sarah on Twitter @SarahMinkewicz and click here to see more of her work.

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