Page 30 - WTP Vol. XIII #3

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“As a printmaker, my work engages the symbology of migration, root-taking,
This is largely based on my experience as a first-generation American raised in Brooklyn, NY. Watching the city’s immigrant enclaves gentrify and lose their sense of sanctuary is what first motivated me to explore the idea of environmen- tally and historically informed cycles of change. I connect this idea to my own role as a new American, keeper of multiple cultures and a maker working in highly physical processes that demand patience, time and both hands. The twin con- cepts of root-taking and rootlessness create push and pull within my portfolio, striding the line between ephemera and archive.”
By translating contemporary photographs into print, I act to preserve both places and histories that fade along with the immigrant. As I move through this coun- try, I keep in mind the glare of separation, the repairs that can be made across borders and generations, and what cannot be mended. I encourage the stark contrast between screen print and traditional lithography to speak to these fis- sures in my work—my images explore the outdated versus the contemporary, the remnant versus the aftermath, and the American Dream contra the broken spell.“
My prints are designed as archival posters, meaning they can travel, degrade, and return as I do. Whether interpreted as mementos or mirages, these images end up existing as documents, charting a map through contemporary America. Together, they form an archive of environmental, emotional and heritage-based fragmentation. Perhaps most importantly, they question the permanence of home. I see my evolving work as a journey, a narrative and a documentary prac- tice, bound within a fleeting medium.”
rootlessness, and urban ebb and flow.
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