My textile paintings are centered around gradient linocuts of native plants and the natural terrain of my birthplace in the Caribbean sea and of my adopted home in the American South. I use various methods like stain painting and dyeing canvas, hand embroidering cutouts of printed linocut images, to portray the rich biodiversity of plants endemic to Puerto Rico and Tennessee. As an artist living in the diaspora - I represent ideas of transition, environmental impacts and impose healing through bursts of deep colors, vibrant organic forms, and stylized landscapes. I bring these themes into my work, making my home island important to discuss. 

Yanira Vissepó creates vibrant compositions that

bridge the landscapes and flora of her birthplace

in Puerto Rico and her adopted home in the

American South. She blends dreamy, color-soaked

washes with crisp, cut-out depictions of plants

in a dynamic interplay of minimal and immersive

elements that delicately balance defined and

undefined forms. Deeply informed by her expe-

rience living in the Puerto Rican diaspora, her

work addresses themes of identity, transition, and

environmental histories. Her techniques, such as

stain painting, linocut printmaking, cyanotype,

dye resists, and hand embroidery, emphasize the

resilience and fragility of the natural world. The

plants she portrays—native to Puerto Rico and

Tennessee—serve as symbols of healing and

connection, weaving ecological and cultural ties

between her two homes.

In 2019, Vissepó studied printmaking at the

Kyoto International Mokuhanga School, where

soft gradients and refined forms became central

to her practice. She has held residencies at Coop

Gallery, Nashville; the Mokuhanga Innovation

Laboratory, Echizen, Japan; and the Nashville

Public Library. Vissepó has also worked as a

teaching artist at the Frist Art Museum, Nashville,

and the Nashville Public Library. Her work is

included in collections such as those of the

Metro Arts Lending Library, Nashville; Soho

House Nashville; and the Vanderbilt Museum of

Art, Nashville. Vissepó’s solo exhibitions include

shows at Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens,

GA; Elephant Gallery, Nashville; and Sheet Cake

Gallery, Memphis; and she has participated in

group exhibitions at venues such as 21c Museum

Hotel, Nashville, and the Vanderbilt Museum of

Art and Frist Art Museum

Photo by Linda Parrott