Gallery 4Culture Solo Exhibition, Seattle, WA
Video documentation: Creating the sculpture and photograph, "Altar Piece, Chihuahua, Mexico".
Dedicated to women who have passed away due to domestic violence and femicide and in memory of Cuban-American artist, Ana Mendieta. Numerous women have gone missing from the city of Juárez, in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico.
This 10-foot tall altar was filled with local plants (ocotillo, agave lechuguilla, guamis, oregano, mesquite, nopal, and flowers from the river) and erected in the hills of Villalba. These are the mountains where my mother, Tomasa Esquievel, was born and part of the Mexican state where the women resided and disappeared. Like traditional Day of the Dead altars, it was meant to serve as an offering to those who have passed from this earth. I burned the altar at 4:30am, before the morning light appeared, and photographed the remaining smoke and ashes. Although it was impossible for me to create a portrait of these women I never met, I wished to honor their memory through my practice.