A Borrowed Light: Latino Talent in the U.S.

By VozEs

For Jonay Di Ragno, Latin talent is more than just flavor and color; it is a gem and a treasure in this country. A radiant halo of light.

The Caribbean waves of Puerto Rico, the seas and volcanoes of Tenerife, the mountains of Asheville, the natural elements, and his experience as a migratory seagull are all part of Jonay Di Ragno’s artistic automatism; for the artist, the most flavorful ingredients of art come from migration and engagement with new and different cultures.

Whether by chance or by choice, living immersed in a culture different from one’s own provides art with an inexhaustible range of elements and sensations: “sand, earth, rock, glass, rain, hot and cold temperatures, the beauty of people who live in a certain way, their accents, their food; art doesn’t just use materials,” explains Di Ragno, who was born in Tenerife, in Spain’s Canary Islands.

At a young age, Jonay moved to Puerto Rico, his father’s homeland, where he attended the School of Fine Arts in San Juan. From that point on, he spent fifteen years traveling back and forth between the Caribbean island and Spain, his mother’s homeland. For the past 10 years, the artist has lived in Charlotte, where he shares the inspiration he finds in the poetry of nature, life’s questions, and mythology.

The multifaceted artist enjoys working on easels, walls, and floors alike, and when he isn’t covered in paint up to his elbows or dancing with paint, he is sharing his abstract-expressionist art with the young people who attend his art workshops. Now Jonay wants to share his ideas, talent, and views on issues affecting his Spanish-speaking compatriots with the readers of VozEs.

Photographs: Edmundo Pacheco

"Art is born from a moment of energy; we experience these moments through inspiration, the materials, the movement of the hand, the effort, the sweat—all those elements come together."

What does "home" mean to you?

Home is one of the most important things in my life. As a child and teenager, you immediately think of things like home, mom, dad, a roof over your head, and the kitchen; “home” is a word that grows in your mind and takes on a broader meaning—it can be something you carry within your heart. 

I don’t like to say that I’m more Puerto Rican than Spanish—or vice versa. I don’t separate them; as an artist, both have influenced me. But “home” is so much more than just geography; home can be a place where the music and the flavors stick with you, where you hear your neighbors’ accents. We Latinos are one big family. I have an inner Latino voice that I carry with me in my suitcase when I paint in Asheville, Medellín, or Spain. Home is the Latin world for me; I hear Spanish, and that is my home.

The beauty of a home lies in self-realization. Many people have a roof over their heads but haven’t found themselves; they haven’t embarked on an inner journey. For an artist, when they are writing, painting, or creating, that is their home—their laboratory. A work of art is meant for the world; if you don’t share it, it belongs to no one and has no value. The work is valuable because of the number of people who can appreciate it; that is the fruit of the artist’s home.

“We migrate like seagulls, but to fly fast and high, you must first be absolutely certain that you have already arrived."

What is the role and current state of Latin art in the United States?

It is our duty as artists, citizens, Latin Americans, and immigrants to leave a mark that inspires our neighbors and ensures they are not intimidated by the system.

Latinos are the music, the flavor, and the color of this nation; the day Latinos are no longer here, this place will become a gray, flavorless box. It’s no secret that Latinos have infused all of that into it, and we need to dispel the idea that we’re a minority. We need to tell our children that Latinos are valued; the news always paints a dramatic picture that we need to erase.

To say whether it’s easy or difficult—in my case, it’s both a challenge and an opportunity. On the other hand, if you look at it through the eyes of the soul and with wisdom, it’s easy. But if we get into economic matters and how we ended up in this country, then you have to accept that you arrive here with three dollars, wearing flip-flops, and have to live in difficult conditions. My responsibility as an artist is to distract people from those things and help them learn more. 

But it is very difficult for many people who have gone through the immigration process—a process I will fight for peacefully through my paintings to honor them and highlight that certain aspects of the immigrant experience must be taken into account and that they must be treated with dignity.

How does negative rhetoric against immigrants affect his art and talent?

Let’s turn to the pages of history; what’s happening today has happened in other parts of the world, here and elsewhere. There’s a tendency to label all these social classes and races, and the rhetoric used intimidates our citizens, our very DNA, our Latino identity. For me, when I hear this rhetoric, I take it as inspiration and try to focus on the positive; what I find beautiful is that Latinos come together; I have many brothers and sisters from many places, and it has been very interesting how we have peacefully taken everything they tell us and used it to propel us to say: “Wait a minute, I’m going to show my neighbors—peacefully, not through war—the potential we have.”

I want to tell my fellow Latino soldiers that instead of getting down on themselves and letting this get them down, they should stand up and show off that amazing spirit. Here in the U.S. and around the world, we must stand together as a nation, helping one another, and join hands—whether we’re white, Black, Latino, Anglo, or Asian.

The best metaphor I can use is that we are all waves in the sea; night and day, one wave passes by, and behind it lies a nationality. What we bring to the seashore are good things, and each wave might be a Latin American, the next might be an Asian. It is the sea’s duty to bring all these values to the shore so that we, as citizens, may live better lives and contribute to beauty in our own way as artists. 

We must set the best example, fly the flag high, and seek positive solutions so that this kind of rhetoric does not discourage our brothers and sisters and our people, but rather reminds them that it is a source of motivation to do better work.

"We are a borrowed light. Latin talent is a jewel and a treasure, the brilliance of gold, and Americans are beginning to realize and appreciate that; they are seeing with new eyes just how fortunate they truly are to have us on the team."

Learn more about this talented artist on his Instagram @jonay_diragno 

Exhibition of the artist's work