As a Toronto based interdisciplinary visual artist of Colombian decent, my work is based on exploring the complexity of immigration, hybrid cultures, heritage and identity. My passion is to promote equality and social justice through my art practice.
10 Years is an experimental video, photo and live performance installation that examines issues of immigration and family histories from an autobiographical perspective. The piece is divided into ten segments that echo the number of years I have lived in Canada. However, the narrative covers a larger time period and even intergenerational experiences and histories, such as the fifty-year chapter of violence in Colombia that resulted in the displacement and migration of thousands of families including my own. Source material draws from personal archives, video portraits, voice-over narration and live performance.
This is my family’s story which was affected by a hateful, xenophobic political rhetoric in the United States that over the years has caused the persecution and deportation of immigrants the division of families. As a Latina woman, an immigrant, refugee, Canadian, Colombian, I am documenting my experiences through photography, video and performance. In my attempt to validate my existence despite being silenced and displaced.