Familial narratives, which took place in Colombia and the US, lacked visual representation. I wanted to use these narratives and create a surreal world in which I could map out the ‘abjectiveness’ of both locations and visualize what that means to me. This extensive project consists of research, archives and a final work to tie everything together.

My large-scale painting, twice my size,  depicts two different narratives that are none-the-less intertwined: One in which true abjection is taking place as a result of capitalism.

And another in which abjection is projected onto ‘othered’ cultures and identities because it contradicts the latter. These contradictions lie in the different forms of self care, community systems and beliefs that don’t follow a patriarchal or hierarchical set of rules. Meaning, they don’t support rules of assimilation and accumulation of wealth which are key for capitalism to work. 

With a focus on the texts Powers of Horror by Julia Kristeva and Goya y el Abismo Del Alma by László F. Földényi, I apply their ideas on horror and ‘evil’ to different experiences, objects and identities considered ‘abject.’  This separates intersectional themes of being and existence (identity, gender, religion, sex) into two different worlds reflecting the repressive strategies of colonization. 

These worlds are portrayed through images of heaven above and hell below peppered with symbolism and references to different forms of iconography that could be considered satirical and/or surrealist. I paint on unstretched canvas so that the work can be installed outside typical gallery spaces. My paintings function in the form of flags, posters, tapestries, pamphlets, etc. In this way, my work finds a way back to the people, el pueblo, to educate the people or even just to initiate conversation.