BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

There are artists who paint what they see, and  there are artists who paint what they feel deep  within their bones.

THE ART OF MEMORY & HERITAGE

For Puerto Rican artist, Sandra Kittle, creativity was never a conscious decision or a dramatic declaration of purpose. It was something innate — something quietly waiting to reveal itself.

Her mother first noticed the gift when she found a young girl sketching a freehand replica of a painting hanging on the wall — exact, astonishingly so for a child. From that moment, the gift was nurtured in every possible way. That early encouragement evolved into an artistic voice rooted in identity, memory, vulnerability, and cultural duality.

AN ISLAND REIMAGINED

Her current series, Evolution of an Island, emerged from profound personal loss and a journey back to her roots. Before her father passed away, he expressed one final wish: to return to Puerto Rico and see his homeland and family once more.

During that deeply emotional trip, she reconnected with relatives she had not seen in decades, immersing herself in stories about her family’s history — some grand in scale, others intimate and deeply personal. Together, they formed a mosaic of survival, migration, sacrifice, and resilience.

Among the stories that resonated most profoundly was the history of her great-grandmother, who emigrated from Ireland to Puerto Rico during the potato famine in search of a better life. Those revelations awakened something powerful.

The series became more than a collection of paintings. It became an act of preservation — a visual archive honoring lineage, cultural evolution, and the layered identity of Puerto Rico itself

Family symbols, textures, and emotional undertones trace the lineage quietly through each canvas — functioning as a visual genealogy documenting not only people, but inherited experiences and generational memory. 

LIVING BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

Being born in Puerto Rico but predominantly raised on the mainland United States created what she describes as a foundational tension within her work. Rather than resisting that duality, she has embraced it as the central language of her art.

In the mainland United States, she experiences the convenience and structure of modern life — reliable systems, accessibility, and technological comfort.

Puerto Rico offers something entirely different. There, she reconnects with the mountains, farm life, and a rhythm rooted in simplicity and survival.

These contrasting realities coexist within her paintings — moving fluidly between abstraction and representation, modernity and ancestry, urban and rural. 

PUERTO RICO AS  A L IVING PRESENCE 

Nature in Puerto Rico is not merely scenery within her work. It is an active participant 

Mountains, rivers, jungle landscapes, tropical textures, and agricultural references appear throughout her work — not simply as visual motifs, but as extensions of cultural memory. The land itself becomes symbolic of endurance. 

When creative blockage strikes, she has learned that forcing productivity is futile. Instead, she reconnects — sometimes through simple moments with family, sometimes by returning physically to the mountains. 

THE BEAUTY OF EXPERIMENTATION

Experimentation remains one of the driving forces behind her practice. She recalls struggling with a miniature painting of Puerto Rico’s Resistance Flag — she incorporated the iconic pava, the traditional Puerto Rican straw hat, but the piece still felt incomplete.

Frustrated, she abandoned it temporarily and shifted her focus to an oil painting. During that process, she noticed the vibrant oil residue blending across a paper palette covered with clear plastic.

IMMERSIVE, ALWAYS TELLING A STORY 

As she looks toward the next decade, her vision extends beyond traditional boundaries. She envisions creating increasingly multidimensional experiences that move beyond the limits of canvas alone — work that fully engages viewers emotionally, intellectually, and physically.

When audiences encounter her paintings, she hopes they approach them with openness and curiosity — and more importantly, she hopes they see themselves reflected within the work.

Her art exists between worlds: between abstraction and realism, ancestry and modernity, mainland and island, vulnerability and resilience. Yet within those spaces of tension, she has discovered clarity. 

Through paint, texture, memory, and intuition, she is not only documenting Puerto Rican identity — she is expanding the way it can be seen, understood, and felt 

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PHOTOGRAPHY: PARKER TCHEKMEIAN  @pvt_photography_ 

ORLANDO CITY ARTS GALLERY