"Siempreviva": An Exhibition by Jenny Perez, Curated by Lesdavag
Siempreviva, curated by Lesdavag, is a personal and culturally resonant exhibition that immerses viewers in Jenny Perez’s exploration of memory, identity, and heritage. Drawing from her Dominican and Cuban roots, Perez builds a narrative that intertwines her family’s legacy with the broader immigrant experience in the U.S. Using sugar as her central medium, she connects her own memories to the complex history of her ancestors.
In the Caribbean, sugar is more than a sweetener—it carries the weight of colonialism, labor, and survival. For centuries, sugar fueled the economies of the Dominican Republic and Cuba, relying on the exploited labor of enslaved and immigrant workers. Perez reclaims sugar, shaping it into delicate, transient plates, each holding fragments of her past. These plates echo the decorative plates she remembers from her childhood, souvenirs that filled her home and represented her family’s journey through various American states. For her family, these plates were more than just objects; they symbolized hope, adaptation, and the desire to create a home in a place both strange and new.
Perez’s work also speaks to the fragility of memory within her own family. Her great-grandmother, who suffered from memory loss in her later years, inspired Perez’s choice to include a fragment of her photograph on each plate. This intimate detail allows Perez to preserve memories that were slipping away, creating a visual tribute to a woman whose life, strength, and resilience continue to shape her. As Perez reflects, “By preserving these fragments, I’m not just honoring her—I’m reclaiming pieces of my family’s history that we risk losing.”
The exhibition’s title, Siempreviva—meaning "everlasting" in Spanish—captures the essence of endurance that flows through her work. The siempreviva flower, known for its ability to retain its shape even after being cut, serves as a powerful metaphor for the persistence of memory, family, and cultural identity. In the gallery, Perez expands this theme through an altar inspired by the Mexican Día de los Muertos tradition, adorned with siempreviva flowers and candles. Accompanied by a live performance, this installation creates a space of reverence, honoring the lives and memories of those who came before.
In Siempreviva, Perez’s sugar plates, photographs, and floral altars converge to tell a story that is both deeply personal and widely relatable. Her work invites us to consider how memories are preserved, how the past informs our present, and how identity transcends generations. This exhibition is a tribute to Perez’s great-grandmother and the women of her family, and to all immigrant stories of survival, resilience, and adaptation that shape America’s cultural fabric. Through Siempreviva, Perez celebrates the enduring power of memory and the ways we hold onto our heritage in an ever-changing world.
