A note from the artist about this recent series. 

As I spent time indoors in our house during the early COVID-19 quarantine, I began to pay more attentions to the items around us, including the objects that we collect, as well as the items that participate in our daily living. Somehow, and probably because of spending quite so time indoors, particularly the kitchen,   I was captivated with the items in the refrigerator and suddenly I was organizing  them by color.  That was the visual spark that guided the development of these unusual "altars”, mostly composed of objects found around our house and assmebled on the floor of various rooms in our casita.  These ephemeral interventionsare also informed by the art of knolling.  There were several altars, such as the refrigerator content altar, the medicine cabinet altar, the groceries altar and a cabinet of curious altar. It was intriguing to connect and activate many of  these objects that suddenly became more predominant in our daily visual realm, especially because my artwork explores issues of memory. The ephemeral altars placed around the house (some of them where up for at least two weeks...) quickly became places of reflection, intrigue and even hope. 

The Hope Boat, an ephemeral video projection on a boat traveling through Biscayne Bay was also  developed during these times with the help and support of architect Albert LaTorre, Bridge Initiative / BasFisher Invitational. This site specific intervention honored first responders while carrying a message of optimism.    

Also during  these usual times, our 501 (c)(3) non-for-profit Foundation created a relief effort that so far has delivered more than 30 grants to artists impacted economically by the pandemic.  You can still donate at: linktr.ee/betancourtlatorrefoundation.