AFS JOURNAL
A studio builds more than objects. It builds a body of work. Here you will find updates on commissions, exhibitions, awards, and collaborations. Proof of process. Proof of progress.
WHAT'S NEW IN STUDIO?
WHAT'S NEW IN STUDIO?
ART RESIDENCY AND JEWELLERY EXHIBITION IN ITALY
September 2024 — Caribbean Creative Jewellery and Ceramic in Sicily
Photo credits: UNESCO Transcultura- https://www.unesco.org/en/transcultura ,
Mad’in Europe- https://madineurope.eu/es/our-story-2/
Artist- Dyhemmia Williams, Lenecia Johnson, Jandelys Jimenez, Francesca Bortolaso
Artistique Fusion Interview with UNESCO Transcultura.
Artistique Fusion and Fracesca Bortolaso in studio.
Artistique Fusion making Murano glass beads.
UNESCO Transcultura Programme
Selected as one of 9 Caribbean jewellery designers and ceramists for Caribbean Creative Jewellery and Ceramic in Sicily, an activity of the UNESCO Transcultura: Integrating Cuba, the Caribbean and the European Union through Culture and Creativity programme, funded by the European Union.
The residency took place in Caltagirone, Sicily — a UNESCO World Heritage site with 1000+ years of ceramic tradition. In partnership with Mad’in Europe and the City of Caltagirone, the program included training in ceramic molding, and Murano glass bead and jewellery making with Italian glass artists Francesca Bortolaso and Sami Centeri.
It culminated in a public exhibition at Palazzo dell’Aquila, Caltagirone City Hall, on 26–27 September 2024.
The experience expanded the studio’s material research into glass and clay, and reinforced the practice of wearable sculpture: structure, movement, and cultural narrative.
CONQUEST OF IRON
Photo credits: Redsemlac Cuba http://www.redsemlac-cuba.net/
Workshop: Escuela Taller de La Habana Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos
Represented by: Artistique Fusion Studios
Artistique Fusion in the Conquest of Iron trial course at Escuela Taller de La Habana Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos.
October 31, 2023 - Forjando sin Estereotipos | Forging Without Stereotypes
I haven’t stopped thinking about this.
In October, in Havana, Artistique Fusion walked into “El arte de la forja o la conquista del hierro” at the Escuela Taller Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos. We weren’t just observing. We were there to work.
With us: Dayli, Chrisnaika, Angeli, and Tashianna. Five women learning the millennial art of forging — a trade the world still calls "for men." Artistique Fusion went to expand the work, to build community, and to remember why we chose fire.
"We work with metal because it answers back. Because wearable sculpture and armatures aren’t delicate. They’re forged. They’re earned." As a studio rooted in WEARABLE SCULPTURE + COSTUME DESIGN + CUSTOM ARMATURES + GOLDSMITHING + JEWELLERY, this is our language. Torch. Hammer. Metal that holds weight.
Professor Carlos Bauta said it plain: "ellas pueden hacer exactamente todo lo que ellos hacen". "Las limitaciones dependen de cada persona, no del sexo."
That’s exactly why AF Studios exists. Costume design is not "just sewing". Custom armatures are built by hand. Goldsmithing is fire and force. These women reminded me: every time we pick up the hammer, we’re not just making a piece. We’re forjando un camino sin estereotipos.
To Dayli and the women in the forge in Havana: we see you. We’re with you. And to anyone who told you "that work isn’t for you" — pruébame primero.
— Artistique Fusion Studios
“LEST WE FORGET”
“Lest We Forget” by Trishaunna Henry
Photo/Video credits: Artist- Tishaunna Henry and Supporting Artist- Dyhemmia Williams
February 2023 — Supporting Artist: "Lest We Forget" Monument, Appleton Estate
Honored to serve as a supporting artist on “Lest We Forget” by Trishaunna Henry, unveiled at the Joy Spence Appleton Estate Rum Experience in St. Elizabeth.
The 12-foot monument pays tribute to the enslaved people who worked on the Appleton Estate Plantation. Designed by Henry, the piece uses sugarcane as its central form — representing both confinement and the hope of freedom. The names of enslaved people from the plantation are incorporated into the monument’s pedestal.
Studio Contribution: (Supporting artist) Member of the sculpting team for the clay master model used to create the mold for the final cold-cast sculpture.
Working on this project connected the studio to a piece about history, healing, and cultural memory. Appleton is the first former slave plantation in Jamaica to honor the men and women whose labor built the brand.
“THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE”
“The Philosopher’s Stone” by Asser Saint | Intersectionality Diaspora: The Creole City, GWU
Photo credits: Artist- Asser Saint-Val
Video clip: https://www.assersaintvl.com/video
November 14, 2019 — Collaborative mask created for artist Asser Saint’s installation The Philosopher’s Stone, presented November 14, 2019 as part of Intersectionality Diaspora: The Creole City at The George Washington University.
The work explored alchemy, transformation, and Caribbean diaspora identity through performance. The mask was conceived as wearable sculpture a vessel for, concealment, and revelation and ancestral memory.
Developed through shared material research in metal and structural form, the piece activated the body as archive. This collaboration marks a early studio investigation into performance, spirituality, and diasporic narrative.
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