Description
Reclaiming the word paradise to mean complete freedom, Es Probete, No Llenete: On Labor & Creating Paradise explores the American Dream, including the journeys and labor needed to achieve it. By questioning the concept of the American Dream and deciphering between what is inherited, acquired, and imposed, we can find liberation and empowerment. What is the American Dream? Who subscribes to it? What sacrifices are needed in this process? Personal narratives are used as starting points for installations, sculptures, and works on paper to explore the pursuit of happiness. Taking influences from the work of Francisco Toledo, Doris Salcedo, and rafa esparza, aspects of the community are considered. Beginning with an exploration of my environment, I utilize fishing and gardening as metaphors for concepts of work, necessity, and leisure, and how these concepts are transferred between generations. I used transferring techniques borrowed from printmaking and those found in ceramics to express what I observed. I discovered that my artistic labor, like the labor of my parents and grandparents, is tied to migration, mestizaje, and belonging. Additionally, my research revealed that histories and the present are skewed, distorted, or simply misunderstood. This reality is subjective, and paradise is what you make it. The real, fake, and counterfeit can be used to one's advantage. I argue that by using the counterfeit as a placeholder for the real, we can find something that embodies paradise. Using artistic labor, we can transform our notions of paradise into our present reality. Es Probete, No Llenete: On Labor & Creating Paradise was displayed in the University Gallery at San Diego State University from April 21-22, 2021.
