La Hora del Amigo, 2024

This inkjet print (Edition of 3 + 2AP) is from my series Mining For Some Sort of Continuity. A study of the fleeting nature of memories, this series focuses on how personal archives construct a mobile, personal, and ephemeral archive that is funda...

This inkjet print (Edition of 3 + 2AP) is from my series Mining For Some Sort of Continuity. A study of the fleeting nature of memories, this series focuses on how personal archives construct a mobile, personal, and ephemeral archive that is fundamental to the construction of diasporic identities. The image is made up of a photo emulsion lift from a family image taken by my mother in my grandparents’ home in the late 1980s. The photograph captures a moment in my grandmother’s living room, where my family gathers around a coffee table laden with food and drinks. Fragmented across six copper plates, the image has been manipulated with a heat patina (done by my friend Dee Dee Decay), creating a colorful yet aged effect that conveys the passage of time and the imperfect nature of memory. Titled “The Hour of Friendship,” after a phrase my grandfather often used when hosting family gatherings, this piece reflects a connection to a past I never personally experienced but feel connected to through anecdotes preserved by my mother. After immigrating, this phrase could have become a poignant reminder of the lost communal moments and a yearning for a sense of belonging in a new place, despite this – we used the phrase to remind ourselves that we still had each other to share moments with. The work embodies my attempt to reclaim a piece of familial history, blurring the line between inherited memories and personal experiences.