Process
A desire to examine my role as an artist within a global economic system that defines the world in capitalist terms has led me to connect my personal history with video and installation art.
The video ‘Chasing Threads Home’ narrates thoughts I had while making large scale paintings out of unconventional materials. I show the process of making a painting with sand and glue. I also sew together a large elliptical shape out of painted children’s clothes from Guatemala and Honduras, denim from Mexico, and abandoned shirts from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and El Salvador.
My objective is to visually identify the way capitalism treats the other. The textiles I work with remind me that the United States welcomes the labor of Latinx people into its economy, while simultaneously enforcing immigration policies that dehumanize working-class people of Hispanic origin.
Together, the two ‘swimming pools’ in this installation create a mirror effect: the images loosely reflect each other to convey that the story of one individual is usually more than an isolated incident. When approached from a multinational context, local tragedies become amplified by systemic sociopolitical issues.
Artists that I look to for inspiration are varied. For use of body silhouette and earthy textures, I think about Ana Mendieta. I like video works by Sondra Perry. I read Hito Steyerl to study art that speaks directly about international issues. My work ethic comes from the Syndicate of Technical Workers, Painters, and Sculptors (SOTPE), led by Mexican muralists David Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Rivera. Their manifesto extols ‘the expressions of monumental art’ that ‘promote an ideological focus from which the people can profit’ by ‘stressing the themes of education and struggle.’ These revolutionary painters define struggle specifically as ‘the social and aesthetic-educational struggle we are undertaking.’ I think about this when I am coding and designing my website. I hope to create a personalized virtual space that is both stylized and informational.
December 12th, 2019
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December 3rd, 2019
November 18th, 2019
October 22nd, 2019
Feeling triumphant. Yesterday was the first time I was able to see this 14 x 8 ft painting up on a wall. It was so heavy to install. I quickly realized that the water and figure looked too flat, so today I reworked these areas, adding more shades of blue around the pool edge and creating contrast with the figure. I think I’m done.
October 21st, 2019
First Version is Usually the Best Version
It all goes downhill from there. The work becomes a rescue mission to bring back the raw energy that births every painting. The best thing I’ve ever made was done in 15 seconds. I’ve spent much more time trying to recreate it. Every move after the first move is a compromise.
October 13th, 2019
April 18th, 2019
︎ Video
February 18th, 2019
March 25th, 2019
March 18th, 2019
April 28th, 2019
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September 1st, 2019
︎ Video: Studio Clean-Up
June 7th, 2019
Redactions
Does the presence of a redaction enhance the authority of a document, or does it undermine its credibility?
Who is actually protected by redactions? Who is disadvantaged?
Do redactions leverage, redistribute, or reinforce existing power structures?
I find redactions to be very aggressive. As a civilian censoring my own personal data, in the following exercise I aim to disrupt our understanding of this technique.
