Through photography installations, I trace how histories of fear, desire, and tenderness shape who we become. Rooted in my experience as a Central American immigrant, my practice moves across borders, languages, and shifting forms of belonging.
During my first semester I began developing a series of works (body actions, photography, sculpture, and installation) from two points in my artistic career. One, from my past experience as a performance artist, drawing connections from my ritualistic background using a sculpture mask of a macaw. I presented the notion of stillness, sovereignty of my naked body, and the influence of the United States in my native country that later earned its title “The Banana Republic.”
Another performance work is inspired by a single memory from when I was five years old, when I went to the movie theater for the first time.I titled the work “Apple Orchard, 1982,” which is not the title of the movie I watched. My mom took me to the movie theater, and while we were watching the movie, she quickly covered my eyes with her hand when the sexually charged scene appeared on the screen. Coincidentally, it is the only scene I remember from the movie. (Through the cracks of her fingers.)
During my first semester I began developing a series of works (body actions, photography, sculpture, and installation) from two points in my artistic career. One, from my past experience as a performance artist, drawing connections from my ritualistic background using a sculpture mask of a macaw. I presented the notion of stillness, sovereignty of my naked body, and the influence of the United States in my native country that later earned its title “The Banana Republic.”
Another performance work is inspired by a single memory from when I was five years old, when I went to the movie theater for the first time.I titled the work “Apple Orchard, 1982,” which is not the title of the movie I watched. My mom took me to the movie theater, and while we were watching the movie, she quickly covered my eyes with her hand when the sexually charged scene appeared on the screen. Coincidentally, it is the only scene I remember from the movie. (Through the cracks of her fingers.)
I was working with materials that carry emotional weight from this single memory: heirlooms, folkloric skirts from back home, and a Greek column. These are not merely objects but vessels of memory, ways to navigate what is revealed and what is protected. In reassembling them, I looked for the spaces where vulnerability becomes strength.
While these are personal experiences, they speak to my innocence and knowledge, specifically around the societal norms that are imposed, i.e. portrayal of a love scene from a stereotypically straight couple. I am interested in how this work can be transformed across media, while experimenting with the performativity of a non-normative object/subjects.
Moving forward, I am interested in how my experiences can inform works that engage with what is prohibitive, permissive, or shocking for those seeing them for the first time, i.e., two men kissing, holding hands. I am interested in documenting the residue of such experiences in objects and installations.
While these are personal experiences, they speak to my innocence and knowledge, specifically around the societal norms that are imposed, i.e. portrayal of a love scene from a stereotypically straight couple. I am interested in how this work can be transformed across media, while experimenting with the performativity of a non-normative object/subjects.
Moving forward, I am interested in how my experiences can inform works that engage with what is prohibitive, permissive, or shocking for those seeing them for the first time, i.e., two men kissing, holding hands. I am interested in documenting the residue of such experiences in objects and installations.
“Apple Orchard, 1982.” Kiwi & Cherry. A single scene from memory. 429 frames.
Previously: (2015-2024) Brief.
Yesterday three ducks were swimming on the river closed to each other, then a fourth one came in and landed and disrupted the other three. They all took off right away, but still, the group of three stayed together during the flight, while the fourth one falling behind, tried to join them in mid-air. The three ducks made quick turns, from one side to the other, still really closed together, clearly avoiding the fourth one. After several attempts to join the group of three ducks, the fourth one gave up and made a sharp right turn, and landed on the water by itself. While the other three landed far down the stream.
