Chapter 3: Travelers & Settlers

Chapter 3 speaks to the amalgamation of identities that create mestiza identity. Travelers & Settlers investigates the meeting points of historical and personal lineages that reflect the impact of migration as a force of colonialism and as a force of personal evolution. Combining family heirlooms with materials from my home in Lincoln, Nebraska I have constructed a narrative from the interactions of my indigenous and European ancestors, to my present. The narrative presented by Travels & Settlers leads to Self-Portrait with Papaya which addresses the result of this history. Dark, reflective surfaces illuminated by a light shrouded by a weaving of pearls, offers a place for introspection. These works invite the viewer to examine themselves in the mirrored surface in context of a pearl light working as a metaphorical torch of the past.