They Tried To Bury Us But They Didn’t Know We Are Seeds
2025 - Ongoing
This portfolio is based upon an activist proverb and is a direct reaction to ICE atrocities, anti-immigration, erosion of civil and gender equality, and family separations, resulting in generational trauma inflicted upon the nation. We live in authoritarian times. Images represent feelings of foreboding, polarization and loss of community (Separations and Recursive Path) and a longing for a return of justice, civility, hope and healing (The Body Remembers, Breaking the Binds, and Somatic Staging). Seeds no. 1 is an demonstration of our strength when we stand together.
My heritage is Mexican American and I possess a powerful sense of identity and pride, especially knowing that my parents and grandparents struggled to live the “American Dream“. I am a child of pickers (parents and grandparents) at a time when opportunities were very few for our people. In time, we became assimilated into the broader diaspora. It is terrifying to witness the racial politics of the current administration, the rollbacks of civil liberties, and the revealing of overt racism (What was Left Behind). It is not lost on me that in a different lifetime, I could have been the child Liam Ramos, detained in inhumane conditions.
As an Engaged Buddhist, I am tasked to stand for justice, and to help the cause of promoting compassion, equality, and ethical action. Together, finding a common core of decency, we are strong and must continue to fight for justice. I am my ancestors’ wildest dream, and I use my voice to forward this message.
Images utilize the Chromo Process – silver gelatin cameraless chemigrams that are abstract interpretations of my emotional state. Images are highly reflective as the halides have been lifted to the surface, resulting in a one of a kind image. All images are 1/1 with no reprints.
