Contra Tu Pecho
Growing up as the youngest in a family of six, I’ve mainly known my family’s life through old photographs. Seeing these images, I felt a sadness for not sharing their same memories and losses. My parents, immigrants from El Salvador, struggled to balance their heritage with raising American children but made sure to document their lives simultaneously. While investigating these photographs repeatedly, I found my family’s connection to our culture has changed. We are now grasping onto our heritage as if it could disappear. This new archive represents our unconscious subverting of culture though a staged family archive. Symbolic garments, furniture and flowers bind our existing photographs with these counterfeits, as they try to exist on their own. Resurrecting these family events, reexamines our experience in the United States but also the effects of the loss of culture and identity as time advances.
Descubrir la caja, 2023
Mom Pregnant with the Twins in L.A recreation, Self-Portrait, 2024
Papa Tonio’s Cumpleaño, 2024
Salvador Sky, 2024
Childhood Home, 2025
Apapachar, 2024
Niñas de las Estrellas, 2024

Dad el la casa nueva, 2024

Self-Portrait in Leslie’s Quinceañera dress, 2024
Parade Braids, 2024

Arrue/Duarte Brand, 2024
Mom’s journey to the U.S., 2024
Like the gates at customs, 2024
Before the fiesta at Tia’s, 2024
Mateo's Cumpleaño with all the cousins, 2024
Kevin’s broken gold tooth, 2024

Mom’s written note for my lunch, 2024
Recreation, Room in El Salvador, 2025