Photo: Luis M. Garza

Lost and FoundInstallation for Admitted: USA, an exhibition of work created by artists in the inaugural round of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program in San Antonio.
Used water bottles, clothing and carpet shoes found along migrant trails in the Sonoran desert. Video triptych: Paupers' graves, Holtville, California
Dimensions variable
2019

In the Spring of 2019, I spent a day with the Samaritans, hiking the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in the Sonoran desert, to cache water, food and socks along remote migrant trails. In 2004, I had spent several days there on both sides of the border, putting out water and filming for my Artpace Residency and I wanted to go back. When you leave water, you also carry out 'trash': items necessary for surviving the trek north but which disturb the sensitive desert environment. We picked up water bottles, "carpet shoes" (said to erase tracks), and clothing, which I washed and re-made into prayer flags; I believe all of the things left behind by crossers - whose fates are unknown - are truly imbued with prayers.

Potters Field, Terrace Park Cemetery, Holtville CA

Support humanitarian organizations working with asylum seekers and migrants and educating US citizens about the issues here:
Borderlinks
No More Deaths
RAICES (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services)
Interfaith Welcome Coalition