Currently on display at The Community Folk Art Center, “Healing Forward: Rituals of Self-Repair, Cultivation of Community, and Collective Action,” is a deep dive into a decade of works by Amber Robles-Gordon, a Puerto Rican and Caribbean interdisciplinary artist.

The show is complex, visually dynamic, and large, spanning the walls of two rooms at CFAC. Its portfolio includes expansive quilts, mixed-media assemblages on fabric, collages, embroidered circular hoops, and a variety of other elements.

Photographs, text, layers of rich color and talking sticks are integrated into several of the works. Talking sticks are a tool of democracy in indigenous cultures, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. At community meetings, a talking stick is passed from person to person, ensuring that everyone has a chance to speak freely and be heard.

*La traza de mis reinos ancestrales, mis flores y los dominios dentro*

Robles-Gordon fully investigates and discusses the notion of healing. For her, healing is active, not passive; it is ongoing, not short-term; it is comprehensive, not linear. According to the exhibit’s catalogue, she views healing as personal, communal, spiritual and ecological.

Her work interrogates historical trauma rooted in colonialism, the current-day distribution of land and wealth and its impact on marginalized groups, as well as the need to confront economic disparities. Several works speak to repair and reparations, delving into questions of who has access to resources, citizenship and sovereignty.

Among other things, the show documents the artist’s creation of a distinctive visual idiom. For example, a mixed-media canvas creation, “Soy Luz, Amor y Frequencia (I am Light, Love and Frequency),” encompasses imagery of youth, a woman and flowers. The canvas is filled with multiple patterns, vertical streams of rectangles and squares in dark, white, and green, as well as bands of orange and red color.

In another piece, an embroidered hoop hangs in the air and is decorated with images of cows, farmers, people laboring in fields and a woman presenting the fruits of harvest. The hoop is in front of a quilted background with green, blue, red and orange coloration. At its center is a globe encircled by an outer ring, with mixed-media collages appearing to the left and right of it.

*Despertando lo Matrilineal, Llamando a Todas las Direcciones Y la Gimnasia Matemaětica de la Morenitud y la Negritud*

There’s also the artwork titled “Mitigacion of Racism (Mitigation of Racism) ” which encompasses mixed-media collages, a mixed-media assemblage on wooden panels, and a good deal of text.

Robles-Gordon’s other piece, “Prison Labor, Prison Slavery” refers to the contemporary practice of requiring prison inmates to work while paying them below minimum-wage standards. And “Don’t Like Looting; You’ll Love the British Museum” references the numerous artworks that were taken from African nations during the colonial era and ended up in the collections of British and other European museums.

In addition, there are graphic illustrations portraying vessels used in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. They are situated next to the logos of major companies still operating today who benefited from the subjugation of millions of Africans.

“Yo, Tu, Nosotros Creamos Naciones a Traves del Amor, La Verdad y La Flexion (I, You, We Create Nations through Love, Truth and Reflection),” meanwhile, is huge, positioned over an entire wall and even spills over onto the floor.

It has mixed-media forms at its center, circular shapes, stripes, photographs of a woman in a greenhouse surrounded by plants, and a range of brightly-colored talking sticks.

Some of the wooden sticks are painted while others are covered with vibrant fabrics and other materials. And, like other artworks in the show, there’s lots going on around a central section. To the left, a doll is placed not far from an image of elephants. To the right, images of zebras accompany another doll. Tiles and other objects are lined up along the floor.

*Administracioìn divina de la tierra, el cuerpo y la mente Divine stewardship of land, body and mind*

The show has other interesting artworks on display. Don’t miss “The Temples of My Familiars: Anointed and Deserving,” a mixed-media collage on canvas.

While the collection is extensive, it isn’t intended to display all of the works created by Robles-Gordon. She’s created large-scale sculptures and several murals, one of which is “The Ties That Bind,” a project telling the story of Henrietta Lacks, who received medical services at a Johns Hopkins facility in 1951. Cancer cells were extracted from her body, only to be used for research and commercial development. Neither she nor her heirs were informed or compensated. Robles-Gordon’s mural was created at Salisbury University in Maryland.

Based in Washington, D.C., Robles-Gordon also created a mural at the Anacostia Community Museum in Washington. It focused on ancestors, community and culture.

Finally, she’s taken part in many exhibitions over the years. Her work has been shown in museums and galleries across the United States and abroad, in Canada, Spain, Germany and other nations.

Restos (remnants)

“Healing Forward” is on display through April 30, 2026 at the Community Folk Art Center, 805 E. Genesee St. The center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and on Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Admission is free, and the public is welcome.

The center has scheduled several events in conjunction with the exhibit. On Friday, March 20, 2026, starting at 6:30 p.m., Amber Robles-Gordon will give an artist’s talk. On Saturday, March 21, starting at noon, she will lead a community art workshop on creating talking sticks with all arts materials provided. Again, there’s no charge to attend either event.

For more information, call the center at 315-442-2230 or visit communityfolkartcenter.org.

About the Author

Carl Mellor covered visual arts for the Syracuse New Times from 1994 through 2019. He writes reviews and artist profiles for CNY Arts as a community partner.