COMPANY NAME-
Let Us Be One
CREATIVE DISCIPLINE-
International Artist
PRIMARY MEDIUM(S)-
Photography, Assemblage, Mix media, Clay ...
ARTIST STATEMENT-
The Flag is Mourning I am an interdisciplinary artist who, in an uninhibited aesthetic manner, explores in-depth social issues on a global scale. My desire to understand my personal struggles and society, are my heartfelt muses and inspiration. My art questions the expectations of predefined socio-economic strata systems, social constructs, and sociological paradigms. I work with diverse materials, such as clay, found objects, photography, and documentary video. Through my art, I research and document international social and cultural events. I emphasize on cross-cultural political issues and highlight the similar struggles that break the language and cultural barriers. My most recent work is “The Flag is Mourning”, acrylic on American Flag, 2019. The work is inspired in response to global protests by the Trump administration’s motto “Let's Make America Great Again”. The protests emphasized on his racist bigotry actions and immigration reform. The caption on the flag is from (“They Tried to Bury Us, They Didn’t Know We Were Seeds”),by Greek poet Dinos Christianopoulos. The colors used represent the bullet wounds of innocent young soldiers, usually minorities, who are attracted to the military packages offered to enroll. I walked with The Flag is Mourning on my commencement day 2019 to receive my Bachelors Degree as a reminder of my mission. According to Matthew White in Worldwide Statistics of Casualties, Massacres, Disasters and Atrocities, about “123 million people died in all the wars of the 20th century”. The intention of using white letters across the stars is to create awareness to the“ Black Lives Matter”, an African-American Community against violence. I believe in peace and the dreams of our world heroes Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, their advocacy for peace and radical Social Justice. Throughout the flag you will find the letter X, which is indeed inspired by Malcolm X’s legacy. As a John Jay College alumni, becoming an activist artist was more than just a personal goal, it became a commitment in the fight to achieve global social justice. One must respect and tolerate diversity, not promote it. Yes indeed! The flag is mourning!
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY-
Dedicated professional with more than 20 years combined experience as a fine artist, photographer and administrative professional in various fields. Rafaelina Tineo was born in Hispaniola. She immigrated to the U.S. and became a permanent resident, making her home in New York City since 1990. A seasoned research traveler, Tineo has worked internationally in Haiti, South Korea, Greece, Holland, Cuba and Costa Rica. In the early 1980’s she studied at the Cultural Center of Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic, where she was mentored by the master photographer, ‘Apeco’ Natalio Puras Penzo (b. 1933 – d. 2010), until his passing; and where she engaged in a professional artistic collaboration with Dominican photographer and mixed media artist Marivel Liriano. In addition to her work as a photographer, Tineo became a student of paleographic anthropology at the Dominican Studies Institute under the mentorship of scholars and historians Anthony Stevens and Lissette Acosta Corniel in 2014. In 2015, Tineo was invited by the renowned anthropologist, Dr. Patricia Tovar of City University of New York, to accompany her to Hispaniola to research and document the leadership roles of women in the history of Caribbean colonization. Ever diverse in her myriad interests, Tineo recently completed her B.A. degree at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY with a major in Gender Studies and minor degree credits in both Forensic Psychology, photography (under the master Brazilian photographer, Prof. Cyriaco Lopes). Additional artistic influences include art historian, curator, and Distinguished Professor Lisa Farrington, award-winning sculptors, art historians, and Anthropology professors Sarah Haviland, Roberto Visani, Stephanie Hightower, Mary Ting, Thalia Vrachopoulos, Sana Musasama, Raul Zamudio, Dr. Patricia Tovar, Cary Lane, E.A.Burlingame. Furthermore, as a student at the historic Art Students League, Tineo studied with teaching professional artists Anita Steckel, Barney Hodes (as his artist assistant), Martha Bloom, and Faith Ringgold. Tineo is a member of the Collective Artist Dominican American – CAVDA and the Anyone Can Fly Foundation (dedicated to raising awareness of the contributions of African American artists to American history and culture, and founded by Faith Ringgold).
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RAFAELINA TINEO
Hispaniola