Exalting the overlooked and exposing truth is a sublime act. By resurrecting ancient Precolumbian ceramic forms, I invoke the rich visual language of my ancestors to address the systemic impact of colonization on indigenous people and the natural world. I combine various techniques using globally sourced ceramic materials and stained glass to create ecovative sculptures. Through the hybridization of Precolumbian forms with iconic contemporary imagery, I revive indigenous knowledge and provide new narratives from the diverse Latinx diaspora in the US. The hybrids assert their autonomy, challenge pervasive Western ideologies, and ask viewers to consider the past, present, and future.
Homage to my grandparents who fled the Salvadoran “Civil” War, a US Proxy War against a popular Leftist government whose goal was to reclaim the land taken by the Fourteen European Families to return it to the indigenous people.
Homage to my mother, who escaped the violent military dictatorship that persecuted students, unions, and other democratic reformers during the Salvadoran “Civil” War (1932-1992).
Homage to Maria, who works two jobs to support her family.
This spout vessel was made in response to the US’ actions of defending an imaginary border that shouldn’t exist in the first place. The US-Mexican border crossed the people who migrated freely from the South to the North before Europeans arrived. What is the human cost of militarizing borders?
Homage to the indigenous men, women, and children of Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Columbia who were forced from their land and were later exploited as workers on banana plantations owned by the United Fruit Company (UFCO).
Retribution for the colonized people of Abiayala (the Americas).
US gun manufacturers continue to fuel instability throughout Latin America by supplying guns through licit and illicit weapon sales across the border.
Mural collaboration. Backdrop for the installation of Karen Jaimes’ exhibition.