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El muchacho este Mario Maya el que tenía las nalgas tatuadas, el novio de Gardenia Caballero acaba de morir, asfixiado allí en la frontera en la cajuela de un carro.; The young man, Mario Maya, the one that has tattoos on his ass, Gardenia Caballero’s boyfriend, has just died, suffocated in the trunk of a car at the border., 2023
Copperplate photogravure and hard ground etching with embroidery on silk. Sheet: 37 x 25 3/4 inches. Edition of 6 + proofs. Published by Mullowney Printing, Portland, OR.
About this work:
Arleene Correa Valencia’s photogravure series, Antes De Mi / Before Me (2023), delves into the artist’s exploration of family separation and migration across borders. Through this series, Valencia attempts to trace her family’s history, starting from the union of her paternal grandparents, who now play a significant role in the artist’s connection to her native heritage. Each photogravure unveils a part of her family’s story that ultimately led to her migration to the United States, where she faced the hardships of being an undocumented immigrant. Growing up as an undocumented recipient of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), Correa Valencia observed that much of her family’s past had been lost or erased to facilitate assimilation and protect them from being identified as “illegal.” This series combines etchings of traditional Mexican images, family photos, embroidery, and beading, weaving together stories spanning multiple generations. These pieces aim to illustrate a family’s resilience amid the political unrest between the United States and Latin America
