In March 2020, society came to an unexpected pause. The COVID-19 pandemic brought us face to face with crisis, fear, and deep uncertainty. The world stood still, demanding that we adapt to a new and often overwhelming reality of confinement and isolation. In response, we adjusted our daily lives and turned inward, searching for ways to navigate the emotional and physical weight of the moment. Through that search, art became a vital outlet—a way to express, process, and begin to heal.

Nearly three years later, the world is slowly beginning to awaken. This moment calls on us to rethink the spaces we inhabit and the relationships we hold. It is time to reinterpret what we lived through—to step away, if only briefly, from virtual existence and return to physical space, where we can reconnect with what was left suspended.

The exhibition RE:______ takes its title from an open prompt—an invitation to each viewer to fill in the blank with their own word, memory, or reflection. The prefix re: signals a process of returning, revisiting, and reimagining—a gesture toward recovery and transformation.

This exhibition brings together the works of artists who originally shared their art through digital platforms during the height of the pandemic. These works were first presented virtually through Flash Gallery, an initiative of the Art History Student Association (AEHA) at the University of Puerto Rico, which sought to re:imagine exhibition spaces and support emerging artists and curators when physical galleries were inaccessible. Now, for the first time, these works step into the physical gallery—allowing artists and audiences alike to re:encounter them in shared space.