Requiem Series: What Happened to My Home?
The Requiem Series, What Happened to My Home?, 2025
Acrylic
61 x 50 x 1 in.
In 'What Happened to My Home?," a 38" x 30" mixed media collage on 100% rag paper, I capture the disorienting sense of displacement that occurs when individuals are suddenly uprooted from their homes and communities. This painting contains scraps of a painting I made when I was forced to leave my art studio because my life was being threatened by a gang that had headquarters next to my studio and began to threaten my life. I had to leave my studio suddenly and fortunately escaped with my life in tact. The torn abstractions that comprise the piece reflect the fragmentation of identity and sense of belonging that resulted from the forced migration of my move away from this life and death situation. I combined pieces of this past work in a paper and paint collage. This work is my empathetic response to the recent and ongoing extraction of people from their homes by the United States government, particularly ICE, which has left many individuals and families uncertain about their futures and separated from their homes, countries, and fundamental rights. Through this piece, I aim to convey the emotional toll of such experiences and the resilience of those who endure them.