strangers from Mexico (above)
In the summer of 2019, I spent four weeks on an independent research trip in Mexico, studying female Mexican artists of the 20th century and the 20th century Latin-American art scene.
“Strangers from Mexico” is a pencil drawing series I completed in my time there. The drawings depict civilians I encountered in my day-to-day commute. My process involved photographing and producing preliminary sketches on the streets as people went about their quotidian tasks and errands.
While drawing, I was concerned with the vantage points from which subjects were depicted. I intended to capture faces and bodies at angles which prevent viewers from confronting the subject directly. The subjects are turning away, looking down or up— but are never face-to-face with and or level with the viewer. Through doing so, I endeavor to evoke a sense of the imbalanced narrative being drawn between ‘Mexicans’ and ‘Americans’ in the complex political climate of the United States today. I leave the backgrounds ambiguous in an attempt to reflect the often-incomplete narratives that are perpetuated in the U.S. about those from minority backgrounds.
