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Appreciation
Appreciation
“Stand on the shoulders of giants.” This collage touches on the appreciation for one’s ancestors and the work and sacrifices they have put in. It shows the ascend from the countryside to the city, and finally to “ the land of free.” This is done by showing important houses from each place. The gradient represents the prevalent color of the space. The person in the middle - the top half janitor and the bottom half farmer represent the many service jobs and sacrifices that many immigrant families have to work through to move their families forward. On the shoulder of the giants sits La Jóven Inmigrante looking out for what challenges she will have to face to continue to move her legacy forward.
Culture
Culture
“Colombia mi patria.” A celebration of many of the highlights of Colombian culture that keep many connected to their roots. In this context yellow holds some prevalent foods, blue holds media, and red shows some traditions. Music, food, language community, and tradition are elements of one’s culture that keep it alive no matter where one may be.
Guilt
Guilt
This collage touches on the theme of Guilt that some may experience when they move away from their home in the context of moving to a whole new country. This collage specifically addresses the guilt associated with not staying in contact, and isolating oneself from their origins. The lack of contact may lead to missing important events and holidays that can never come back. The feeling is further emphasized by dragging the acrylic paint in a wavy pattern showing the interior turmoil and the uneasiness of the feeling. The self-portrait is blind and mute but sports a shirt with a repeated conversation representing how the connections seem to go no further than surface level.
La Joven Inmigrante Reflection
La Joven Inmigrante Reflection
REFLECTION
I immigrated to the US around October in 2007 at the age of four with my parents and my younger sibling. My older sibling would join us a couple of years later.
I didn't go to daycare and the following year I attended elementary school. From my memory elementary school was fine. My main anomalies were being pulled away from some of the fun activities to go to ESOL and having certain different eating habits than my classmates. My lunch time is at 3pm instead of the American noon.
In contrast, according to my parents the language barrier was a cause for frustration since I could not effectively communicate with many of my friends.
To this day I get caught up sometimes forgetting a word in English only remembering it in Spanish or vice versa. Since I only really talk in full Spanish with my parents and grandparents, spending most of my time at school or doing school work, my English has grown stronger than my Spanish in many areas. I remember talking to a friend in Spanish at Uni when I lived on campus and tearing up with relief and happiness that I could finally communicate using my mother tongue.A big part of being a young immigrant and being the oldest is having the responsibility of translator for the adults. I have many memories of translating what the doctors were saying to my mom.
One of the biggest struggles as an immigrant that I have felt through my whole life and will probably continue to feel is the starting from base zero and having no one with previous knowledge. Many things that are “common sense” are not so common for me. When someone says a university name I have no idea what that means, are they a good school? A bad school? I have no clue. There are people that sign up for scholarships starting and middle school, and that start SAT prep that early as well. All of these steps I had to uncover.
A community, a place where you feel safe and it is normal to speak in spanish, dance, listen to music, share food and play out traditions from home. Is so important, and when you don't have a solid trustworthy one everything gets so much harder without that support system and a palace to share information. I feel that I have not had my own solid version of that community for a long time and it's been hard.
Guilt
In my experience I struggle with a feeling of guilt from not staying in contact with my family back home. In my personal life I am not the best communicator. I’m not really a texter and I often have a hard time making phone calls. With the distance and the completely different environment I have a hard time with what to talk about. I remember many conversations when my mom would pass me the phone just being very surface level. It pains me and it is something I have to work on.
Culture
I am so thankful to my parents and grandparents for making sure that I stayed connected to my culture by making sure I didn't lose the language and by continuing to prepare food from home. Colombian sweets and snacks are some of the foods that have most allied me to stay connected to home but filling the collage with that sliver of food didn't feel right. Still there are so many dishes missing from that piece, but to have them all it would have to stand alone.
I have only been able to go back and visit twice. As of now I have not been able to go back to Colombia in six years. In that time I have missed the birth of multiple cousins and the death of other family members. It is really painful being unable to be there for the good and the bad.
Appreciation
This collage shows the ascent to the US for me. In this collage I drew and painted elevations of homes from family members in the different areas. Both my grandparents grew up in the countryside and the bottom two houses belong to great aunts of mine from one of those pueblos in the mountains. My grandparents from both sides eventually moved to the city where my parents grew up. Both of those houses belong to my grandma, one in Bogota the capital and the other in another, more warm city. Finally the top two houses are my current home and the home of my grandparents that moved to the US before me. If it were not for the work and sacrifices my family made I would not be here today. Thank you.
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
I'd like to acknowledge my friends for kindly letting me interview them on the eve of this project. Alina Collins for mentoring me and supporting me throughout the interview process. Heather for patiently guiding me through this journey. Harold, and Gabi, for always being there as a resource. My classmates encouraged me, and supported me throughout this project. My parents for making the hard choice of locating to a new country with young kids. For keeping us connected to our culture as well as they could and in some of the best ways. For helping me and supporting me so I can be where I am. My great grandparents for planting the seeds that allowed for my grandparents to move into the city and then to the US. My grandparents for their sacrifices, for their valor, for their wisdom, love, support and kindness. I want to acknowledge my friends for being there for me through it all, for their patience with me, for providing me with the support system that made it all possible. I want to acknowledge my siblings those that I can relate to the most, my partners through this journey, the ones that can relate to me the most.
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