September Community Spotlight: Esperanza Ramona
El Arte de Nuestra Voz: Support an Afro-Latinx & neurodivergent artist creating cultural connection through her jewelry business
Mi gente! It’s Hispanic Heritage Month. I don’t celebrate colonizers, As a proud Afro-Panamanian American, I celebrate la cultura, la comida, la música, y el ritmo. Our ancestors built the foundation of the Americas. Stolen from their homeland, families, and culture. Enslaved in a new world (those who survived) and were cut off from their sovereignty. Their humanity. Cut off from their religion, history, language, but they survived. Nuestra cultura es su historia. So let’s celebrate and lift up the voices of our Afro-Latinx identity.
That’s why this month we are spotlighting a creative whose culture and ancestors inspire her craft. A Dominican-American. A beautiful soul. I know her personally through her contagious laugh and expressive humor. See her light through this conversation. Her art through her cultural expression. And let’s support our sistah. Meet Esperanza Ramona.
Introduce yourself to the community, who is Esperanza Ramona?
Black Native & Latine chronically ill artist
What type of neurospicy are you?
Autistic.
A song or artist that helps create your craft?
Teyana Taylor
Describe your jewelry style in 3 words:
Colorful, Textured, Architectural
One word that describes your relationship with your neurodivergence, right now?
Peace
When we discussed your vision of your jewelry business, you shared themes of Afro-futurism, textures, earth tones, maximalism. Tell us more about your jewelry vision? What drew you to jewelry making specifically, and what does creating feel like for you?
Fashion is a deep and old love of mine. The level of authenticity that can be expressed without struggling for words is such an exhale for me. I love how wearing something beautiful can lift low spirits and draw in positive attention. It's like armor, a warm hug and a celebration all wrapped in one. When I thought of my energy limitations jewelry came to me as the perfect entry point to this fashion world I love so dearly. The size of the product allows me to consistently make beautiful work without harming my body. Creatively speaking, I rarely find jewelry pieces that reflects my taste given the industry is of course constrained by whiteness. It felt right to be a part of building out more aesthetic space for Black and Indigenous people just by expressing what my eye finds beautiful. I get to make a declaration about our existence, our beauty, in materials that shine and last.
Creating feels like breathing freely. There's an improvisational flow I get into as I test the ideas I had in mind then edit with my eye. It's work but it feels rejuvenating. I don't have to pay for it later with losing access to my speech, or needing to lay in the dark. It's a break from the shape of this world breaking me for being different.
Being a disabled creative navigating financial barriers is a reality that doesn't get talked about enough. Tools, materials, a workspace—those all cost something. This can make what should be an accessible art form be a tool of privilege and power. Tell us about your crowdfund and what getting these tools would make possible for your work.
It would allow me to tangibly begin. I've worked out my designs and chosen which materials to work with. Every step possible without supplies I've done. Now I need the actual product. I can't create the product without supplies. I can't even properly promote myself without the product to show people my work. Getting started would allow me to even exist creatively. In order to play with shapes and textures I'll be sculpting tiny pieces out of porcelain clay. The porcelain pieces will be inlaid beside gemstones I've chosen onto metal. Creating colorful patterns requires multiple glazes otherwise it's just plain clay without any of the story I'm trying to tell. These and some workspace tools are the supplies I'm needing.
BIPOC, neurodivergent and disabled creatives exist outside of traditional art world structures. We don’t have access to the MFA, galleries, and lack institutional support. How have you built/plan to build your creative practice that aligns with your own values, and what has/will that independence cost and given you in return?
I plan to plug into the networks our era of the internet has allowed people to create. There are multiple platforms dedicated to independent artists promoting their work for buyers. A number of magazines that cater to my target audience have ad space available. With my energy being limited I'm thinking how I can insert myself into nontraditional systems that have already been built out, to prevent worsening my health conditions. Speaking of which, that is the primary thing existing outside of the traditional art world has cost me, visibility and network. Part of which impacts buyer prospects but the other piece is missing out on building peer relationships to enage with me throughout my artistic journey. Aesthetically I feel very confident in how I've developed my taste and want the opportunity to stretch my legs with it. To be as big as possible in a world that wants me small. Being grounded in that desire is an advantage to not occupying that formal world that, again, is restricted by whiteness and therefore pressures people like me to be smaller. I'll take the win of the freedom even though it comes with costs.
What’s your special interest?
Fiction novels (mainly fantasy), Animals, Fashion, Languages
Biggest disability myth you want debunked?
That disabled people who overcome obstacles are magical creatures. Obstacles are moved through with help. That's it. The disabled people who aren't helped simply go unseen.
What are you working on right now that excites you?
Right now my excitement is stalled out. Once more of my basic needs are met I'll be able feel that spark for a project again. I know having the supplies to get my hands dirty making this jewelry would excite me.
Where can the community find and support your work?
Substack: Esperanza Ramona @ZaMona https://substack.com/@zamona
About NeuroDiverse Experience Lab
The NeuroDiverse Experience Lab LLC is an organization that supports high-masking neurodivergent professionals through educational awareness, and community-power building. Our founder Tanisha Esperanza Jarvis, M.A. (Nisha J.) is a neurodivergent and suicide prevention educator, consultant, and community advocate. She is a Black/Afro-Latinx, Queer, neurodivergent, and chronically-disabled woman who uses this platform to reclaim power for marginalized voices. We create the NeuroDiversity Liberation Framework™ which is the foundation of our 1:1 program My AuDHD Burnout Recovery Roadmap. A program to support high-masking neurodivergent professionals through burnout. Learn more.
