The Virtual Landscape
Dealing with the rising intensity of immigration debate, this project expanded its dialog through sculpture, audio, and artist book components. This was my first opportunity to work in a large-scale, installation format, which led to a wide combination of media. My artwork is sculptural in that I am most concerned with the directional relationship among its participants. Stemming from a traditional sense of Minialism, I work to engage viewers on an immediate level, while at the same time jumping outwards into an abstract social environment.

Minor Lawn: Hair of Graves Memorial was a bridge between Walt Whitman's canonized poem, Leaves of Grass , and the contemporary backdrop of suburban economy. The audio recording was created through two readings of Whitman's poem, played simultaneously over one another in both English and Spanish. The poem was read by Martha Clark, a Colombian immigrant to the United States, and Kathy Hansen, a professional translator. The theme of grass as the marker for death, however, is updated for the consideration of landscaping industry and the numerous mortalities resulting from border-crossing. The artist books also presented, depict anonymous subway passengers reading while in transit. Created as a series of subsequent copies, the books evoke themes of institutional documentation with printing and genealogy. This project was on display at the Phoenix Art Museum in participation with The Contemporary Forum Grant Winners Exhibition.