I am a collector, a maker, and a storyteller. Growing up in Colombia taught me about resourcefulness, in a society where people have to work so hard for so little. It helped me appreciate the value in every object in a country where abundance is a foreign luxury.
My work grows from my experience as a first-generation Latina immigrant. I explore the stages of a migrant’s journey and the struggles that come along with the pursuit of the American Dream. I aim to be a voice for alienated communities, generating dialogues that lead to a change in society. Through each piece, I manifest ideas of community, resiliency and unity, taking a stand for humanity in the midst of a critical period of hate and discrimination.
Life journeys long for significance, and art has been the channel I use to communicate the value of collective stories. I create sculptures and installations by de-constructing, manipulating, and accumulating materials and objects of the same kind. I see materials as a universal language that needs no translation. They are metaphorical and have the ability to communicate in a visceral level.
I use objects that are often neglected once they have served their purpose – like shoes, socks, blankets, and cardboard boxes–. I manipulate them in ways that pay tribute to the history of each object, honoring the journey of its previous owners, and becoming a testimony of the past.