Hydrogen, Oxygen, Carbon

Artists are simply catalysts reasoning through experience and environment. My experience in this country hinges on being a child of undocumented immigrants. Seeking to communicate truth, I was led back to the Rio Grande, the river that physically separates Mexico and the United States. I wanted to allow the River itself to speak for the people who have origin in its waters, like me. I broke branches from nearby trees, and filled an empty container with water from the Rio Grande. I charred the branches taken from the riverbank into sticks of charcoal. I held the River in my hands and began to draw people. Some born here, others born in Mexico, but all American at heart. The drawings invite you to step closer. I wish to capture your interest with an aesthetic response, negating preconceptions. Eyes, reflective of a shared experience. My drawings are not finished until I drench them with the water collected from the Rio Grande. The River thereby embodying the dual nature of the people depicted. This also completes the elemental basis of man, hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, existing at more than ninety percent in our bodies. River water and charcoal, transmitting life to the inanimate.