Si Un Dia.. , Oil on Canvas, 30 x 24 in, 2025
Through the use of oil paint I blend the many layers and emotions I hold within. I depict my family in an embrace forever holding onto each other surrounded by forget-me-not flowers as a message to them that I will never forget them or let them go. I grew up having this recurring memory of a conversation I constantly tried to avoid. I didn’t understand at the time what was at risk but all I could feel was a heaviness of worry. The sad reality is that many children of immigrants have had this heartbreaking conversation that comes up over and over again and never lets you forget that at any moment everyone you love the most can be taken away. I remember all the times my parents were late coming home from work and I’d wait anxiously wondering if today was the day that they wouldn’t make it back. They had told me if one day they did not return back home, to not be scared, and just keep going without them. But how could I possibly move forward in life without them. How could I grab my things and seek shelter with relatives knowing my parents would no longer be with me. During current times, this conversation has come to haunt me once again. As I relive it, I become as small as I was the first time I heard it and fear overcomes me once again.