Gabriella Baez ART '26 is drawn to intimate narratives and portraying community through documentary photojournalism and experimental artwork.
Hailing from Puerto Rico, Baez did not initially pursue art formally. Before becoming a student at the Yale School of Art, they studied social sciences at the University of Puerto Rico. They started work in photojournalism in 2017 when student strikes broke out across campus.
"I just started documenting what was going on, and that eventually led me to apply to photojournalism programs back home, and it just kind of snowballed from there," Baez said.
The focus of their work shifted following Hurricane Maria as they began documenting the human grief in its aftermath. Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017 and had a profound effect on Baez's life.
Due to the hurricane's effects, Baez's father committed suicide. Their work, "Ojalá nos encontremos en el mar" -- "Hopefully, We'll Meet at Sea" -- was a way for them to process this loss.
This piece was installed as part of an exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. While it began as a photojournalism project, the exhibition resembles a sculptural piece more than a collection of photos, said Baez.
"I began ... trying to intertwine the archive and the photographs with texture to make me feel like I could feel the grief or just have some kind of tactile experience even though [my father's] physical body is gone," Baez said. "Ojalá nos encontremos en el ma" is "the work that propelled [them] forward."
The hurricane caused immense destruction to infrastructure -- exacerbated by the negligence of government response. Some families lived without electricity for over a year, as emergency funds were funneled elsewhere and supplies were abandoned and lost.
Less touched upon, however, is the hurricane's effect on individuals' mental health, Baez said.
The estimated death toll, initially at 64, was later revised to 2,975. However, neither number fully accounts for the number of people who died after the hurricane's aftermath. Baez's father committed suicide months after the hurricane and his death was not considered to be directly related to the hurricane, said Baez.
Through "Ojalá nos encontremos en el mar," Baez wanted to shed light on the deaths that weren't included in the official count. This work doesn't merely address personal grief; it focuses on the struggles faced by an entire nation -- struggles that are rooted in issues of political and climate justice in Puerto Rico.
"It's not very welcome to talk about my father's death, but I found it so important to talk about it publicly," Baez said. "Mental health and suicide are very serious things that happen continually in Puerto Rico, and especially in the aftermath of the hurricane."
Caribbean communities, as those closer to natural disasters, are the ones that suffer the most Baez believes.
Paula Arribas, a fellow artist who helped assemble Baez's first solo show in Puerto Rico, said, "The words, the images and the ways of letting go and honoring the farewells, without a doubt, is what stands out the most about Gabriella's work."
Before coming to Yale, Baez was inspired by personal histories, intimate narratives and interpersonal relationships.
Baez's identity as a queer person of color shapes the stories they highlight in their work. In Puerto Rico, Baez was part of the "House of Grace" -- a collective of transgender artists. The ways queer and transgender youth redefine ideas of the family take center stage in their photo project named after the collective.
During the pandemic, people were urged to stick closely to one's immediate family. "But what happens when your immediate family is not a safe space?" Baez asked themselves. The "House of Grace" project considers what family means to different people.
Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo, founder of the Latin American photography workshop 20Fotógrafos, said that Baez's work engages with the political. Baez participated in Escobar-Jaramillo's workshop in 2019.
"Gabriella has been unafraid of sharing their most intimate processes, their diary, with an audience - an expression of vulnerability that is necessary when speaking to experiences of mental health and sexuality," Escobar-Jaramillo wrote in an email to the News.
Much of Baez's artistic process is defined by experimentation. Baez looks at what materials can transform their art and what feelings they can evoke through texture.
Baez's great-grandmother sewed, which motivated the artist to take up the craft. A red thread is a pervasive element in "Ojalá nos encontremos en el mar," symbolizing how generations are connected and preserved through artistic memory.
At the School of Art, Baez has also found a desire to pursue graphic design, departing from their previous work in photojournalism.
In 2022, Baez published their first photobook "La gente deprimida tiene sexo sucio y ganas de morir" ("Horny and Depressed"), delving into living with depression and redefining one's relationship with sexuality. Creating this work in part inspired them to pursue graphic design.
While Baez is still exploring their goals and artistic direction, they strive to achieve consistency in their work. Baez finds central ideas of their work through journaling and writing diary entries, they said.
"My goal as of right now is to be more disciplined with writing and drawing as a part of my process," said Baez. "It's related to that initial practice that I've been doing forever - of just drawing."