s o b r e m e s a
The word sobremesa refers to the ritual in various Latinx homes that opens up space for a dialectic conversation after a meal. The dinner table becomes the vehicle in which creation stories, politics, and events unfold after the shared meal. It is the family anchor; a communal space that nourishes the body and sustains the soul.
The sculptures are created to resemble Central American refugees during the migrant caravan. he sculptures highlight the American consumption of immigrant labor and specifically immigrant women. Sobremesa examines the ways in which trauma, exploitation, and violence can be transferred through domestic spaces such as a dinner party.
The table is made from wood panels used to create fences; however, this is not a fence its a table, an elongated bridge.
A crucial question this work poses for me is :
How do we shift from being seen as utensils and vessels of consumption, to leaders and negotiators at the table?
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Special Thanks to: my mother Dana Santos, my father Edwin Arrué, Betsi Santos & Gabrielle Civil
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Is your body weathering?
What spaces hold you? / what spaces do you hold?
Where does your body rest?
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Does your body lie?
When have you been betrayed by it?
Do you remember your mother’s suffering?
Where is sacredness located for you?