‘Dissolving the boundaries’

From Eastefania Puerta's show “Laughing Death Drive’’ at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Conn., to Jan. 11, 2026.

The museum says:

“Born in Colombia and raised in East Boston, Puerta channels her experience growing up undocumented into a practice that redefines categorization—dissolving the boundaries between alien and natural, comforting and threatening, spoken and withheld. Influenced by literature, mythology, and psychoanalysis, she explores themes of shapeshifting and transformation, reflecting on what is gained or lost through cultural and material translation.’’

‘Between forged and found’

“Garganta Cueva,’’ by Estefania Puerta, in her show at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Greenwich, Conn., Sept. 18-Jan. 11.

The museum says:

“‘Estefania Puerta’ marks the artist’s first solo museum presentation, featuring two new wall reliefs alongside ‘Garganta Cueva’ (2023). Born in Manizales, Colombia, Puerta immigrated to the United States at age two, settling with her family in East Boston. Drawing from her experience growing up undocumented, her work recasts the terms of categorization—blurring the lines between what is forged and found, felt and repressed, spoken and withheld. Influenced by literature, mythology, and psychoanalysis, she delves into themes of shapeshifting and transformation, reflecting on what is gained or lost through cultural and material translation.’’