SER DE | NI DE
SER DE | NI DE is an offering to ignite, disrupt, and spark a call to action. In times where past and present administrations continue to target BIPOC and immigrant communities, SER DE | NI DE examines the tension of being ni de aqui, ni de alla. Within this show, I explore my experience as a queer Salvadoran American, evaluating my sense of belonging through memory. Through my ongoing process of decolonization and reflecting on the realities of being a child of immigrants, I share my family's migration story, their life in El Salvador before migration, and the aftermath upon arriving in the United States to begin their new lives. By sharing personal histories of intergenerational trauma, resilience, and healing, I invite reflection. Even if these experiences aren’t lived, I hope others can see themselves in them, hold space, and recognize vulnerability is collective.
SER DE | NI DE is an installation that functions as a portal, at its center, a series of ceramic drums serves as both sculptural forms and vessels of memory. The elements seen throughout this exhibition serve as prayers activated by the rhythm of the drums played in unity. Some drums hold recorded interviews with my family, sharing lived experiences of migration, displacement, identity, and resilience. Others, invite you to touch, to play, and to respond, activating the space through rhythm and the medicine of your own presence. The drums allow us to connect with our ancient roots and amplify our voices. Emanating with power and strength, empowering us to create a new future of healing.
I chose to use the drum as gateway to bring people into a relationship with one another, but also as a vessel to hold and share my family’s immigrant stories. The drum carries a rhythm that is alive just as our heartbeats. When people gather to play together, all of our differences; gender, race, sexual orientation begin to fade as we all have a beating heart.
An altar composed of clay, sand, and straw acts as a threshold between past and present, grounding the work in ancestral material memory. Functioning as a community altar, visitors are invited to engage by leaving offerings, objects, or items of remembrance. Together, these elements create a collective rhythm where stories are not only heard, but felt. The installation invites audiences to encounter immigrant narratives as embodied, relational, and collective, shaped by resilience, ancestry, and ongoing healing.
This exhibition would not have been possible without the support of my community and family. I extend my deepest gratitude to Felicia Perez for the opportunity to share gallery space with her. My collaborators, my sisters, Yeni, Jacqueline, Marian, Clorsi, and Mother, Rosa, Nicolina Colette, Lupe Alvarez, Nate Eng, Stevi Cooper, Josue Valdez, Haley Jane, A Wheel Good Time Ceramics Studio, Deestrukt. Sarah Krings-Lien, ArtBug Gallery. Your support was essential in bringing this meaningful body of work to fruition. I am truly grateful, as are my ancestors.
On view:
4.25.26 - 5.9.26
Opening reception:
4.25 - 6-10pm
Closing reception:
5.9 - 6-9pm