ARTIST STATEMENT
This piece is inspired by colcha embroidery of the colonized southwestern United States. In this isolated region is the San Luis Valley, I know this to be the hometown of my Grandfather. In this piece I reckon with a heritage disconnect in relation to the death of my Grandpa. The front of the quilted tapestry is the image of my Grandparents’ totem pole which marked their home in Colorado Springs. The back is a poem written by my Dad about my grandfather’s death. The charms adorning the quilted tapestry are all family heirloom southwestern symbols. Being a product of assimilation, to me, my Grandpa seemed like the final remaining link to another life unknown to me. With his death was the loss of language and stories. This piece is a celebration of my family history despite what has been lost. In its creation, I have researched the connection between the Land Back movement of the colonized southwest and Palestina. I emphasize this by using the “Palestrina” stitch, which in local folklore is said to have come from Palestina despite its actual Italian origins. Although the Palestrina stitch is not an emblem commonly utilized in southwestern textiles, its mythology illuminates the cross-cultural connection between Palestina and Latino-Indigenous resistance as they both fight against trespassed ancestral lands.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
I am a second-year student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I currently study textiles and fibers with an emphasis on manipulating embroidery. My interests range from studying ecological conservation movements in my work to depicting my personal experiences as a queer youth today. Recently, I have taken to revitalizing my family’s ethnic history in my art by re-conceptualizing the heritage and traditions unique to the Southwestern USA.
© Araceli Trujillo