Eres mi Todo (You are My Everything)
2016
21st Century
16 x 16 in. (40.6 x 40.6 cm)
Michelle Angela Ortiz,
American,
b. c. 1979
Object Type:
PRINTS
Creation Place:
North America
Medium and Support:
Digital Print
Credit Line:
Purchased with funds provided by the Art Angels
Accession Number:
16-G-3751
See the interpretive label written by Candace Robertson-James, DrPH, MPH,
Director and Assistant Professor, Master of Public Health Program, for the exhibition
Teaching and Learning in the Art Museum: La Salle University Faculty Selections in the online exhibition
HERE.
Label from Border Crossings: Immigration in Contemporary Prints, La Salle University Art Museum, March 16 - June 9, 2016:
This print is based on a public art installation entitled, Eres Mi Todo, one of five artworks that I created for my Familias Separadas project. The original artwork was temporarily installed in the Courtyard Rose Compass in Philadelphia’s City Hall and highlighted in the city-wide Open Source project in October 2015.
"Eres Mi Todo" are words written by Maria's husband who is currently incarcerated and in the process of deportation. After being deported from Philadelphia, he attempted to cross the border again to be reunited with his family. He was caught by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Texas and now has 6 months left to his three year jail sentence in California. Once his sentence is over, he will be sent back to Mexico. Maria continues to live in Philadelphia with her five children. She speaks about the difficulty of deciding whether to stay or to leave for Mexico to be reunited with her husband.
In preparation for this project, I worked with undocumented youth and families in partnership with Juntos, a Latino immigrant community-led organization fighting for human rights as immigrants, parents, youth, and workers. I collected audio stories from undocumented families that reveal how their lives changed before and after deportation.
My project reflects the stories of immigrant families that have found Philadelphia to be a safe place to provide a better future for their children. Very much like the Irish, Jewish, and Italian immigrants that made their way to the city, these families see this new home as a place of progress and safe haven, where their children will grow to be the next generation of Philadelphians (like myself, a child of immigrants) that will contribute to the livelihood and fabric of this city. Philadelphia is a sanctuary for immigrants and honoring their contributions to the growth of the city is crucial especially during the current national anti-immigrant climate. For these reasons, this project is important because it offers a platform to tell the stories of our undocumented immigrant communities that are often unheard in our city.
—Michelle Angela Ortiz
Current Location:
In Storage
@LSUAM
@lasalleuniversityartmuseum
facebook.com/LaSalleUniversityArtMuseum
