Concerned with matters of identity, diaspora, and place, the primary aim of this installation is to bring into conversation, with fluidity the relationships created by the intersection of these three with regard to the Latino community within the United States. I intentionally employ materials, concrete, porcelain, and audio that directly relate to the situation of oppressed Latin American communities. Cement, to land and labor; forming a structural foundation. The process inherent to porcelain directly relates to the impression of clothing on the body, the body onto clothing and the stories they carry. Garments, like voice hold an impression of how life has impacted life. Narrative of the porcelain is reinforced by the audio, a spoken language that anonymously moves beyond the individual self and impacts the collective.
Communities within Latin America have been displaced, to flee their land, culture, homes, resulting in the current immigration /refugee crisis. One that is compounded by the perpetual geographical shifting and economic insecurity imposed on these communities even after their initial migration. Most individuals and families, seeking safety and economic needs, trying to follow the demands of labor find themselves in a foreign land that identified them as the other. Not being able to fully set roots in American soil, many individuals become nomadic, a sense of homelessness is pervasive.
DESPLAZAMIENTO | CONTENCIÓN
2017.
Porcelain, concrete, US/MX border wall, audio, wood, silver.
Approx. 500sq.ft.
Images courtesy of the Denver Art Museum