Immigrant Song (2019-present)

As an immigrant to the United States, I feel uprooted.

What about other people with the same background? Do they feel the same? What did they leave behind them? What did they face when they settled in this new country? How do they feel about that? 

A few years ago, I created Immigrant Song to answer these questions and started to invite immigrants living around me. As a result, I tell their story in installations of four images: a portrait of them, a still life of an object they brought from their country, an arrangement they make with four stones, and a text they write in their own hand. With this work, I give voice to immigrants and let their pride shine through.

I photograph my portraits with a plastic lens that lacks definition to transcribe visually some of the loss of identity experienced by immigrants. Using an alternative process, my images are transferred to watercolor paper.  This technique, that symbolizes the movement from one country to another and from one life to another, can be as unpredictable as the immigration process and show unexpected results.

In addition to my images, I have conducted interviews with my subjects that I would love to share in future installations of my work.