RETAZOS DE UN DÍA CUALQUIERA
by artist Valerie Sosa Hernández
Retazos de un día cualquiera (Fragments of an Ordinary Day)
Retazos de un día cualquiera by Valerie Sosa is presented as an affective logbook and a herbario of the everyday. Through first-person drawing, the artist documents the intimate rhythms of her daily life in Santurce: from the restlessness of a shower when there is no water running and the vulnerability of a sink full of dishes, to a constant dialogue with the plants on the balcony of any given house. It is here where botany shifts from mere ornament to become a mirror of the body and an emotional refuge.
Sosa reclaims the urgency of the sketch as a definitive work, transferring the marks from her notebooks onto highly tactile supports such as handmade papers and raw textiles with frayed edges. Between ink lines and saturated blocks of pastel, erasures and imperfection become an essential part of the work. Each piece is, in itself, a new diary entry—the honest testimony of a visual memory that heals through the process of creation, at the precise moment the pencil touches the surface.
May 21, 2026
Contrabando PR
El Local en Santurce
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
Valerie Sosa Hernández (Bayamón, 1997)
is a multidisciplinary artist based in Santurce, Puerto Rico. Formed at the Central School of Visual Arts and a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (2021). Her practice revolves around illustration and printmaking, mediums through which she documents her daily life in an intimate environment inhabited by plants, birds, and salvaged objects. She has presented her work in group exhibitions at the Francisco Oller Art Museum (Sucesiones: Narrativas Gráficas en el Dibujo, 2021), the cultural space El Local (Colectivo 2026), and Espacio 802 (Papelorio, 2026).
Ballpoint pen and oil pastel on paper
Dimensions: Drawing: 4 1/8" x 5" | Mounted Size: 8 1/4" x 6 1/8"
Mounting/Framing: Mounted on wood, ready to display
An intimate vignette of daily life in Puerto Rico, Dama de noche - abril 4, 2025 beautifully blends the delicate precision of ballpoint pen with the rich texture of oil pastels. This original piece comes uniquely mounted on wood, offering a beautiful tactile presence ready for display.
Exhibition
Part of “Retazos de un Día Cualquiera,” the first individual exhibition by Valerie Sosa. Presented at the El Local gallery in San Juan, Puerto Rico, this collection is independently produced by Contrabando and MAL (Muestra de Arte Local)
Exhibition dates: May 21 – June 18, 2026.
Artist
Valerie Sosa is a contemporary multidisciplinary Puerto Rican artist based in Santurce. Her practice revolves around illustration and printmaking, mediums through which she documents her daily life in an intimate environment inhabited by native plants, birds, and salvaged objects.
Sosa was formed at the Central School of Visual Arts and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus (2021). She has presented her work in prominent group exhibitions including:
Sucesiones: Narrativas Gráficas en el Dibujo (Francisco Oller Art Museum, 2021)
Colectivo 2026 (El Local)
Papelorio (Espacio 802, 2026)
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