Reminiscing on a childhood spent watching her abuela in the act of artistic expression motivated Swoope — who was born to a Puerto Rican-American mother and a Bahamian and African-American father — to dig even deeper in order to develop the ethos guiding the creation of "Abuela's House."

"When I looked at the building blocks of who I am and asked myself, why does this color make me feel this way, or why does this pattern stick out more than all others, everything kept coming back to my childhood memories with my great-grandmother, my grandmother, and my mother. Then I asked myself why are these memories top of mind? It's not like I haven't seen anything else. But when I go back and look at my abuela's roots, I find an entire culture, a heritage, stories," Swoope says.

"We're living in such a fast-paced world that we don't often have moments when we're like, Okay, let me run it back. I see all the ways that I got here, but let me look back even further. I can be the first person to acknowledge my traumas and what I'm healing over, but let me also acknowledge the things that made me strong. Why am I so kind and loving? Why am I so vibrant? Why is family so important to me? We sometimes forget to acknowledge all the beautiful things that make us who we are as well. I think it's important to always connect to that, preserve it, and make it a priority not to forget."

After graduating, Swoope dove headfirst into pursuing a career in the fine arts, and it was when Zee Lopez Del Carmen — a Miami-based curator, cultural researcher, and facilitator — paid a visit to her studio that the seed of the idea for "Abuela's House" began to sprout.

"I walk away from Desi's work with such a deep sense of love for connection and for community. After my first two conversations with Desi, I started asking my grandparents questions," says Lopez del Carmen. "I took a picture of my grandmother when she was laughing and sitting on her rocking chair because this is something that I take for granted. I've seen this every day for the last 29 years. Yet, when I saw Desi's work and the way she talked about preserving history and understanding those things that make us who we are, it made me need — not want — to take a picture in that moment, print it, and keep it on my desk. Desi's work helps me create altars to my family's memory."