Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo: Lady Liberty

Associate Professor Carlos Motta speaks with Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo—also known in the art world as Puppies Puppies— an artist who moves fluidly across performance, sculpture, installation, and community activism.

Jade's work questions notions of what is and isn't art, blurs the line between the personal and the public, and explores how identity is shaped by the commodities and media we consume. Drawing on the emotional resonance of found objects and shared experiences, she has built a body of work that grapples with love, mortality, power, visibility, and what it means to exist—all while channeling the art world's resources back into her trans and gender non-conforming community. What began as a deliberately anonymous practice has transformed into an autobiographical and politically urgent voice.

Among her career highlights is her inclusion in the 2017 Whitney Biennial, the 9th Berlin Biennale, and the 60th Venice Biennale.