SAN JUAN, PR.- Renowned Puerto Rican artist Gisela Colón presents her highly anticipated exhibition, The Salt of My Body Turns Into Light, on November 5 at the prestigious Walter Otero Contemporary Art gallery.

After an extended and successful period abroad, Gisela is finally returning home at a pivotal moment in her career. And there is no better way to celebrate her return than alongside her longtime gallerist and dear friend, Walter Otero.

"Having a solo exhibition by Gisela in my gallery is very meaningful to me. She is already part of my family, and I feel this is the right moment. In fact, this may be the last opportunity to see her work here for some time, as there are very ambitious international plans underway for her. Visitors will get a glimpse into her unique universe, and I can assure you it is beautiful and unlike anything else. To give you an idea, more than 7,000 pounds of salt were brought all the way from Mayagüez especially for Gisela," says Otero.

"Those who believe Gisela is at the height of her career are right, but she is not even halfway through her journey. You could even say this is just the beginning. We are now beginning to establish her work within major European art institutions. Everything being written about her is generating even more interest among leading international art critics. This is an extremely important moment for her and for the art world in Puerto Rico and beyond. She has earned it through her talent, vision and humility," adds the gallerist.

"The Salt of My Body Turns Into Light" is a solo exhibition featuring four wall-mounted works and a sea salt installation that transforms the gallery into a mineral and ocean-inspired landscape unlike anything previously seen on the island.

Through the combination of crystalline materials and light, Colón creates a connection between Puerto Rico's island landscape, the memory held in the human body and the forces that link Earth to the cosmos. There is no music or outside distraction; silence is an essential part of the sensory experience.

"The ocean of Puerto Rico lives in my ancestral memory and in my body. This connection goes back to generations of my family who lived by the sea in Arecibo and Aguadilla, as well as to the earliest memories of life that we all carry in our cells. In this exhibition, salt becomes a bridge between that ancestral heritage, the power of the ocean and the light and color that have shaped my artistic research for decades," explains Colón, who is also preparing to launch a book based on the project presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Puerto Rico, to be published by Turner Libros in Madrid.

Salt is created through an ancient natural process involving rock, water, air and time. When water evaporates, what was once invisible becomes visible: minerals emerge as crystals. The same minerals are found in the human body, meaning that we carry within us the chemical memory of the ocean.



For Colón, the ocean is also a place of ancestral memory. Her father, great-grandfather and earlier generations of her family came from Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Her great-grandfather lost his life during Hurricane San Felipe in 1928 while placing sandbags along the shore to protect the town.

Her memories of visiting Arecibo, the power of the ocean and the taste of salt remain deeply rooted in her senses. Over the years, the artist has observed how sunlight reflects and breaks apart across the moving surface of the water, creating flashes of light, reflections and changing colors. These experiences connect her personal memories of Puerto Rico's landscape with her ongoing exploration of light, perception and color.

Spread across the gallery floor, the salt creates a crystal-like landscape where Colón's artworks appear as luminous forms. Made with optical materials and special color techniques, their geometric and organic shapes interact with light to create constantly changing colors. As visitors move around the space, the colors appear, become more intense and shift, revealing effects that are not always visible to the naked eye.

This extraordinary and one-of-a-kind installation brings together two natural processes: what is invisible in seawater becomes visible as crystal, while what is invisible in light becomes visible as color.

The visitor's body becomes part of the experience, standing between these two elements: the salt as a symbolic extension of the ocean and the artworks as expressions of light and color.

"The Salt of My Body Turns Into Light" explores a transformation that begins with Puerto Rico's intimate landscape and expands into a universal experience.

Gisela Colón's admirers, art lovers and curious visitors can expect much more than an extraordinary art exhibition. They will become part of a powerful, thought-provoking and deeply moving experience that invites them to see the world around them in a completely different light.