I’m From Here

(2020) A group show in Harry Wood Gallery at Arizona State University

February 24 - 28, 2020

“The United States, a country founded by immigrants, is now struggling with ideas of nationalism and repositioning the role of the immigrant in this country. In America’s polarized political atmosphere, one side suggests that immigration is a threat to American jobs, security, wages, and so on. The fear is that foreigners will bring new languages, religions, and perspectives that challenge populist American ideology.

From the other point of view, immigrants assimilate to their surroundings, bring with them new talents and ideas, and offer another layer to American culture by incorporating customs from their former country. In the New York Times analysis essay, “What Makes an American?” Tamir Kalifa writes, “the classical version of Americanization is called straight-line assimilation. The immigrants struggle amid poverty and bias; their children awkwardly juggle two cultures and the third generation completes the rise. The descendants of immigrants advance and do so by blending in.” In the face of this dilemma, how do immigrants find balance within the dichotomy of current politics? Many first-generation American artists use their artwork to recontextualize and create new meaning around the American experience. 

I’m From Here presents work by artists who are grappling with generational identity and trauma, assimilation, and cultural erasure. Their artwork explores contemporary American life through the personal experiences of people who are always at a cultural crossroads. The artwork expresses the duality and complexity of one who shifts between an American identity and an identity based on the familial country of origin. The artists included in this exhibition are Mariah Moneda, Fernando Cabrera Gonzalez, Papay Solomon and Katherine Del Rosario.”

- Katherine Del Rosario

Dito Na

An exploration of generational labor through the eyes of a First-Generation born, Asian-American woman.

Philippines - Generational Metamorphosis

An origami wall sculpture in the shape of the Philippines. Made with an archive of newspapers from the household of my Lola and Lolo of the Philippine Times.

Lola and Lolo

A canvas triptych featuring gaze-less portraits of Milagros, Manolo, and the shared labor between them.

Images by Roman Castaneda and Mariah Moneda