Presence Through Absence

concrete, metal pole, fabric, embroidery thread, clothes pins, sod, soil, rope
6 x 10 x 7 ft

This installation explores familial ties, identity, and domestic labor shaped by the pressures of assimilation. It responds to the English‑only school law enacted in Texas in 1918, which prohibited the use of languages other than English in public school instruction and fueled decades of punitive “no Spanish” practices. Although the law was formally abolished with the 1973 Bilingual Education and Training Act, its legacy continues to shape today’s anti‑immigrant climate and the generational ruptures in language, identity, and belonging that many Latines still carry. The Spanish words historia (history), orgullo (pride), familia (family), lengua (language), tradición (tradition), and yo (me) are hand‑stitched using Otomí embroidery, reclaiming a traditional Mexican craft as a form of cultural resistance and continuity. These words mark the parts of self my ancestors and many immigrants put on the line in order to navigate American public life.