Cruzado (Settled In)

Sandra C. Fernández, Cruzado (Settled In), 2015, etching, chine colle, thread drawings, blind embossing on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Frank K. Ribelin Endowment, 2019.34.3, ©2014, Sandra C. Fernández
Sandra C. Fernández, Cruzado (Settled In), 2015, etching, chine colle, thread drawings, blind embossing on paper, sheet: 27 × 21 in. (68.6 × 53.3 cm) plate: 24 × 18 in. (61 × 45.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Frank K. Ribelin Endowment, 2019.34.3, ©2014, Sandra C. Fernández

Artwork Details

Title
Cruzado (Settled In)
Date
2015
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 27 × 21 in. (68.6 × 53.3 cm) plate: 24 × 18 in. (61 × 45.7 cm)
Copyright
©2014, Sandra C. Fernández
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Frank K. Ribelin Endowment
Mediums Description
etching, chine colle, thread drawings, blind embossing on paper
Classifications
Object Number
2019.34.3

Artwork Description

Fernández's layered print brings the poignant history of the U.S.-Mexico border to life. Before the European conquest of North America, this area was home to Indigenous communities who have lived in the Southwest for hundreds of years. Later it was claimed by several colonial and national powers--Spain, Mexico, and the United States. Fernández's linear forms evoke these shifting boundaries and the paths of migrants through the land and water. The artist's needle pokes holes in the paper, suggesting wounds, while her stitches seem to tie the regions together. Embossed on the print itself is text written during the Spanish conquest. This historical reference raises the specter of colonialism as the origin of current crises like perilous migrations and political strife. 

Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea, 2023

Works by this artist (4 items)

Sandra C. Fernández, Mourning and Dreaming High: con mucha fé, 2014-2018, lithography, thread drawings, milagros, collage, pages of an 18th-century book, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Frank K. Ribelin Endowment, 2019.34.1A-S, ©2014, Sandra C. Fernández
Mourning and Dreaming High: con mucha fé
Date2014-2018
lithography, thread drawings, milagros, collage, pages of an 18th-century book
Not on view
Sandra C. Fernández, La virgen de Quito apareció en Austin, 2011, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Gilberto Cárdenas Latino Collection, 2012.40.2, © 2011, Sandra C. Fernández
La virgen de Quito apareció en Austin
Date2011
screenprint on paper
Not on view
Sandra C. Fernández, Cruzado (Settled In), 2015, etching, chine colle, thread drawings, blind embossing on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Frank K. Ribelin Endowment, 2019.34.3, ©2014, Sandra C. Fernández
Cruzado (Settled In)
Date2015
etching, chine colle, thread drawings, blind embossing on paper
Not on view
Sandra C. Fernández, Mojándose II (Crossing), 2015, etching, relief, chine colle, thread drawings, blind embossing on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Frank K. Ribelin Endowment, 2019.34.2, ©2014, Sandra C. Fernández
Mojándose II (Crossing)
Date2015
etching, relief, chine colle, thread drawings, blind embossing on paper
Not on view