Para Mi Niña reflects the past, present, and future dreams of our little Black and Brown girls. Three young girls — the youngest, middle, and oldest — play dress-up as their mothers, aunts, grandmothers, and matriarchs who worked during the World Trade Fair era.

Wearing vibrant colors, flowers, prints, and dresses inspired by Puerto Rican culture and the spirit of Plena, they mirror the strength and pride of the women before them. The youngest builds the Women’s Pavilion with blocks, symbolizing foundation and possibility.

This piece honors how older women clear the path so younger generations can dream, create, and shape lasting change.

About the artist

Miranda Lopez’s work explores fiber as both material and language. Through weaving, textile processes, and tactile experimentation, she investigates the relationship between labor, memory, and material transformation. Fiber carries histories of domestic work, craft traditions, and communal knowledge, and uses these materials to question where craft sits within contemporary art.

Alongside her studio practice, she founded Hilo Fiber Bar as a space where making becomes collective. The space functions as both studio and community hub—supporting experimentation, skill-sharing, and the preservation of fiber practices while encouraging new interpretations. This dialogue between personal practice and shared craft culture informs my work, blurring the boundaries between artist, maker, and community.

Through fiber, she is interested in slowness, process, and the physicality of materials—how threads accumulate, hold tension, and record time.