Artwork Details
- Title
- Mojándose II (Crossing)
- Artist
- 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, relief, chine colle, thread drawings, blind embossing on paper
- Classifications
- Object Number
- 2019.34.2
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 This historical reference raises the specter of colonialism as the origin of current crises like perilous migrations and political strife.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