Sortilegio III, 2022, the embedded abbreviated text, written during Huellas Que Germinan, reflects upon the dualities that occur when undocumented immigrants pass from one side of the border to the other, from Mexico to the United States.
Once an individual crosses, they must immediately assume the burden of hiding in plain sight, concealing one’s identity, and becoming untraceable while living in the shadows beneath the attention of governmental surveillance. During this time, however one must simultaneously support one’s family as an undocumented laborer, resisting this system of oppression by working out in the open. In 2018, Amézquita traveled by car from San Diego, California, to El Paso, Texas, stopping to cross the border at ports of entry to visit and give aid to shelters for immigrants seeking asylum in the United States. During this trip, the artist periodically collected soil from each of these ports of entry in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. It is with this soil that she created Sortilegio III, casting her thoughts in the various colors of dirt that make up this geo-political boundary.
Materials: soil from the 2,000-mile border that connects Mexico and the US, cal hidratada (hydrated lime), corn masa, salt, rain, screws, plywood, and gypsum board.
84”x96” Photos by Ian Byers-Gamber
MI SUDOR CUENTA LA HISTORIA
DESDE QUE EL DIA NACE
HASTA QUE EL DIA MUERE
MI CUERPO SOSTIENE EL PESO DE LA
LUCHA
MIENTRAS MIS MASNOS ALIMENTAN
EL SUELO DE UNA HUMANIDAD QUE NO
ESCUCHA
BAJO LAS SOMBRAS NO HAY NINGUN
DERECHO
SOLO UNA OBLIGACION NUNCA RENDIRTE
SEGUIR RESISTIENDO
PARA LOS QUE ME ESPERAN
EN CASA PUEDAN SEGUIR
EXISTIENDO
MI SWEAT TELLS THE STORY
SINCE THE DAY IS BORN
UNTIL THE DAY DIES
MY BODY HOLDS THE WEIGHT OF THE
STRUGGLE
WHILE MY HANDS FEED
THE SOIL OF A HUMANITY THAT DOESN NOT
LISTEN
UNDER THE SHADOWS THERE IS NO
RIGHT
ONLY AN OBLIGATION NEVER GIVE UP
KEEP RESISTING
FOR THOSE WHO AWAIT FOR ME
AT HOME CAN CONTINUE
EXISTING
