i can't live without you (un)documented diaries
Location
FA-203
Start Date
1-5-2026 9:00 AM
Department
Art + Design
Abstract
My project, "i can’t live without you (un)documented diaries" reclaims documentation as a form of visibility and dignity for immigrants whose identities are often hidden, controlled, or reduced to their legal status. The women in my family preserved important documents under the bed, a gesture that mirrors how immigrants hide parts of themselves to survive within systems that overlook their contributions while manipulating their narratives. By presenting audiences with enlarged documents that immigrants must fill out, I transform concealment into confrontation. Spanning thirteen years of my experience as an (un)documented immigrant in the United States, my works focus on the crude and emotionally consuming reality of filling out institutional forms that contain derogatory language. Terms like “alien” appear normal within bureaucratic systems, yet they shape how immigrants are perceived and how we are forced to perceive ourselves. Through repetitive paperwork and invasive questioning, institutions normalize terminology that reduces complex lives to checkboxes. My project critiques these systems, exposing how official language perpetuates harm while presenting itself as the norm. The exhibition challenges the idea that one must assimilate or marry a U.S. citizen to live a fulfilling life. Instead, the work centers forced resilience, self-advocacy, and solidarity as the forces that sustain us. Each piece is created using cyanotype, a photographic printing process that produces Prussian blue images through UV exposure. The tonal variations function as a visual language for the fragility of remembrance under emotional and psychological strain. This exhibition confronts the violence embedded in bureaucratic language while reclaiming documentation as an act of self-definition and collective visibility.
Faculty Sponsor
Nate Mathews
i can't live without you (un)documented diaries
FA-203
My project, "i can’t live without you (un)documented diaries" reclaims documentation as a form of visibility and dignity for immigrants whose identities are often hidden, controlled, or reduced to their legal status. The women in my family preserved important documents under the bed, a gesture that mirrors how immigrants hide parts of themselves to survive within systems that overlook their contributions while manipulating their narratives. By presenting audiences with enlarged documents that immigrants must fill out, I transform concealment into confrontation. Spanning thirteen years of my experience as an (un)documented immigrant in the United States, my works focus on the crude and emotionally consuming reality of filling out institutional forms that contain derogatory language. Terms like “alien” appear normal within bureaucratic systems, yet they shape how immigrants are perceived and how we are forced to perceive ourselves. Through repetitive paperwork and invasive questioning, institutions normalize terminology that reduces complex lives to checkboxes. My project critiques these systems, exposing how official language perpetuates harm while presenting itself as the norm. The exhibition challenges the idea that one must assimilate or marry a U.S. citizen to live a fulfilling life. Instead, the work centers forced resilience, self-advocacy, and solidarity as the forces that sustain us. Each piece is created using cyanotype, a photographic printing process that produces Prussian blue images through UV exposure. The tonal variations function as a visual language for the fragility of remembrance under emotional and psychological strain. This exhibition confronts the violence embedded in bureaucratic language while reclaiming documentation as an act of self-definition and collective visibility.