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“I went to the river and saw that the birds had not yet been silenced.” -Elizabeth Robles
In SiSa, Elizabeth Robles invites us to direct our attention toward the río Piedras, the only river in San Juan. Aware that protecting our environment depends on the attention and relationship we establish with nature, Robles emphasizes that our relationship with our natural environment will affect how we relate to one another. SiSa refers to the body measurement in a garment that gives shape and continuity to the body's fit and refers to bodily capacity, the form, and continuity with which the body achieves mobility. This echoes the contiguity of the río Piedras' flow in our lives and urban bodies.
Robles attends to the living relationship with the riverbank by practicing a Beuysian healing ritual, highlighting the act of walking the city and along the riverbank as one of reappropriation of the natural environment within the city. In its journey, the performance Orillar (2025) also becomes a collage of works that includes drawing, assemblage, and photography. Considered together as a social sculpture, the works in SiSa engage various generative tactics to reconnect with the river, such as a subtle hand dance similar to the improvisational contact with the water's surface, as well as abstract charcoal drawings made from the roots of vetiver plants grown on its banks. This exhibition manifests itself in part as a remnant of the performance Orillar (2025) and the visit to the artist's studio, supported by the Puerto Rican Arts Initiative (PRAI 3) as part of its micro-residency program.
Elizabeth Robles (b. 1960, Puerto Rico) practices the everyday art of intimacy through her relationship with her environment, which leads her to produce an art of connections and coexistence between objects, found or created, materials, architecture, and urban and rural fabric, expanding the peripheries that unite art and life. Robles works with a transdisciplinary practice through mediums such as sculpture, installation, drawing, painting, and performance. The senses that guide her to explore the specific place allow her to obtain or create her materials; she considers her entire environment, within walking distance of her home, intertwined with her studio and workshop. Born on the karst coast of northern Puerto Rico, Elizabeth Robles currently lives and works in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Elizabeth Robles. SiSa I, 2025, (Sisa de río); Artist-made vetiver root charcoal on cotton paper, Carbón vegetal de raíz de vetiver elaborado por artista sobre papel de algodón; 12" × 12" (30.48 × 30.48 cm), 17 ¼" × 17 ¼" (43.82 × 43.82 cm) (framed)
Elizabeth Robles. Vestuario I, 2025; Fibers, black bird feathers, ring with animal skin from Uruguay, and “Amulet for travelers”, an encaustic sculpture inside; Dimensions variable
Elizabeth Robles. Vestuario I, 2025; Detail view
Elizabeth Robles. Vestuario I, 2025; Fibers, black bird feathers, ring with animal skin from Uruguay, and “Amulet for travelers”, an encaustic sculpture inside; Dimensions variable
SiSa, 2025; Exhibition view
Elizabeth Robles. SiSa II, 2025, (Sisa de río); Artist-made vetiver root charcoal on cotton paper, Carbón vegetal de raíz de vetiver elaborado por artista sobre papel de algodón; 12" × 12" (30.48 × 30.48 cm), 17 ¼" × 17 ¼" (43.82 × 43.82 cm) (framed)
Elizabeth Robles. SiSa III, 2025, (Sisa de río); Artist-made vetiver root charcoal on cotton paper, Carbón vegetal de raíz de vetiver elaborado por artista sobre papel de algodón; 12" × 12" (30.48 × 30.48 cm), 17 ¼" × 17 ¼" (43.82 × 43.82 cm) (framed)
SiSa, 2025; Exhibition view
Elizabeth Robles. Vestuario II, 2025; Fibers, mosses, printed image transfers, skeins of P.R. cotton threads (Antillean weft), organic matter found on the banks of the río Piedras, a crystal tear, plastic bags from Hielo Paradice, a ceramic mask made with coconut and wooden dowels, organza dyed with vegetable dyes and ice, and other materials; Dimensions variable
Elizabeth Robles. Vestuario II, 2025; Detail view
Elizabeth Robles. Vestuario II, 2025; Fibers, mosses, printed image transfers, skeins of P.R. cotton threads (Antillean weft), organic matter found on the banks of the río Piedras, a crystal tear, plastic bags from Hielo Paradice, a ceramic mask made with coconut and wooden dowels, organza dyed with vegetable dyes and ice, and other materials; Dimensions variable
Elizabeth Robles. Vestuario II, 2025; Detail view
Elizabeth Robles. Lo que toco, me toca, 2025; 17 impresiones de inyección de tinta en papel fotográfico, 17 inkjet prints on photographic paper; 24.75 × 40.125 cm (9 ¾" × 15 ¾") (framed) Ed. 2 + 1 AP
Elizabeth Robles. SiSa IV, 2025, (Sisa de río); Artist-made vetiver root charcoal on cotton paper, Carbón vegetal de raíz de vetiver elaborado por artista sobre papel de algodón; 12" × 12" (30.48 × 30.48 cm), 17 ¼" × 17 ¼" (43.82 × 43.82 cm) (framed)
Elizabeth Robles. SiSa V, 2025, (Sisa de río); Artist-made vetiver root charcoal on cotton paper, Carbón vegetal de raíz de vetiver elaborado por artista sobre papel de algodón; 12" × 12" (30.48 × 30.48 cm), 17 ¼" × 17 ¼" (43.82 × 43.82 cm) (framed)
SiSa, 2025; Exhibition view
Elizabeth Robles. Vestuario III, 2025; Internal frame used in Orillar to carry spheres (ice sculptures), sculptural hook in beeswax and yellow pigment, piece in beeswax, two clay spheres created with mud and river soil stones, peacock feathers, and other materials; Dimensions variable
Elizabeth Robles. Vestuario III, 2025; Detail view
Elizabeth Robles. Vestuario III, 2025; Internal frame used in Orillar to carry spheres (ice sculptures), sculptural hook in beeswax and yellow pigment, piece in beeswax, two clay spheres created with mud and river soil stones, peacock feathers, and other materials; Dimensions variable
Elizabeth Robles. SiSa VI, 2025, (Sisa de río); Artist-made vetiver root charcoal on cotton paper, Carbón vegetal de raíz de vetiver elaborado por artista sobre papel de algodón; 12" × 12" (30.48 × 30.48 cm), 17 ¼" × 17 ¼" (43.82 × 43.82 cm) (framed)
Elizabeth Robles. SiSa VII, 2025, (Sisa de río); Artist-made vetiver root charcoal on cotton paper, Carbón vegetal de raíz de vetiver elaborado por artista sobre papel de algodón; 12" × 12" (30.48 × 30.48 cm), 17 ¼" × 17 ¼" (43.82 × 43.82 cm) (framed)
SiSa, 2025. Exhibition view