Chapter 4: Home, Family, and History: Highlighting an Underrepresented Geographic And Cultural Narrative

In Hermana y Hermano (Figure 4.1) I recreated a photo of my father and tía. Their clothing was replaced with the cotton they would have picked, and their skin is made up of and matches the color of cardboard and vegetable boxes that they filled. I started working with cardboard because it is a material that is everywhere, it’s useful and strong, yet fragile and disposable. I saw a similarity between our dependence on cardboard and the labor of many Mexican Americans. America is so dependent on this labor, yet many are made to feel expendable.

In the work, “Cotton-Pickin” (Figure 4.2), I highlight the people and slogan of my hometown of Taft, Texas. In my parents’ youth, train tracks separated the laborers from the white landowners. Considering the history of segregation and racism in this small town, the slogan “Friendliest Cotton Pickin’ Town in Texas” takes on a new meaning. The work was created to represent a billboard that sits at the town’s edge. The figures are made up of hand carved cardboard, their skin is represented by sandpaper, and their hair is stained by oil. This work is based off a photo of my grandmother, father, and tía, three of the countless unknown laborers who helped build what America is today.