Photo courtesy by Stephen Kennedy
I am a Mexican born and Chicago raised artist whose work frequently highlights immigration issues, unseen labor and social disenfranchisement. The concepts I create as DACA recipient artist depict the nuances of coexisting in both the United States and the art world with a politicized identity. I use my career as a gallery worker and qualities from Minimalism and Conceptualism to create my work.
By identifying gestures in my art making process, such as removing tape after painting a gallery wall, creating scratch marks on a gallery wall when sandpaper is used to conceal the holes from previous exhibitions, and pushing joint compound through drywall, I fossilize the unseen labor of an art preparator. These actions help me relate the unseen labor of undocumented immigrants who support the operations of many industries in the US. I see art preparators and undocumented immigrants working in the shadows of great institutions but are rarely recognized. Through my practice, I communicate and question the parallels of the bureaucratic processes and spaces in which I exist.