Shine America 2043, 2021

Archival inkjet print, wood, neon, paint, and resin
45 × 85 × 5 in
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“América Utópica: Houston” installation shot: left, Hechos del Mismo Barro mural (We Are Made from the same Clay) (2022); left center: Somos Millones (We Are Millions), (2022); right: Shine America 2043, (2021)

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“América Utópica” is an ongoing art project that uses crowdsourced skin tones, data, language, and other materials to create mixed-media works that explore themes of race, migration, sense of belonging, identity between communities in the United States, and my indigenous identity.

When the confinement started in March 2020 in the U.S., my portraiture work was completely interrupted. Soon after, the socio-political situation in the U.S. took a turn over the death of George Floyd who was brutally murdered at the hands of the police. This situation made me shift during this period in the way I work. I began collecting images of skin tones via an open call to create work. My curiosity for skin tones steadily and expansively grew since I moved to the U.S. and had to fill a migration form for the first time, and then the United States Census.


"Shine America 2043” (2021) is a direct interpretation of the 2011 U.S Census data prediction, which states that all the non-white groups combined will be the majority by 2043; surpassing the white population in numbers and making up more than half of the U.S. population. Mirroring this data, I’ve created this color study mostly composed of skin complexion tones from people who self-identify as BIPOC and skin tones, minor in numbers, from people who self-identify as white. Each square represents the skin tone of a person who lives in the United States. Additionally, the participant’s first name is imprinted on each square. The work aims to show the diversity of the United States, to be a positive message of hope, and to question the actual space that is given to people of color in society.


“Hechos del Mismo Barro” mural (We Are Made from the same Clay) (2022) is a photographic mural that uses crowdsourced skin tones to represent the demographics of the city of Houston. It is composed of hundreds of four-inch square tiles ranging in hues from light tans to warm browns, blush pinks to dark browns arranged in order of how they were received to avoid hierarchy. By reducing the submitted skin tone photographs to colored squares, I look to convey our similarities and erase our differences as people.

The photographic mural is an ever-evolving work that changes according to the demographics of the city for which it is produced. Ultimately, the work becomes a demographic portrait that represents the diversity across regions.


“Mismo Barro” (Same Clay) (2023) draws inspiration from Mapuche's cosmovision and relationship to stones. For Mapuche people, stones are charged with symbolic, magical, religious and even political powers. For me, the use of stones is a way to speak about my Indigenous heritage and how existing issues of race in Argentina manifest also in the U.S and vice versa.

For this work I combine selected stones from a store bought bag with stones I made out of clay. The hand made rocks were painted with the skin tones collected from an open call in which people living around the United States submitted a photo of their skin color and ethnicity.
The act of making the stones by hand and painting them represents for me an unnatural man made process—just as the concept of race is.
Additionally, to speak about extractivism on Indigenous lands, economies and political power, I’ve intentionally bought the stones from an American company that extracts them from Mexico.

By exploring my ancestors' culture, and my American immigrant experience, I am creating connections between my identities in the present time. These connections reinforce my vision of a more just future. "We are all made from the same clay."


CLICK HERE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROJECT.

"New Glory, We Are the People and Us" proposal for the George Bush Intercontinental Houston airport.

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Mismo Barro, 2023
Found stones, clay, magnets and flashe paint
12 x 186 in

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América Utópica: Houston's show short documentary film

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