Erie Museum Retrospective
"Living Her Truth: Transcending Boundaries"
August 6th, 2021- May 22nd 2022
I think we are born into stereotypes and expectations. In order to find myself and connect with my own identity I had to break and dispel racial and ethnic stereotypes. Still I had to define my own concepts of femininity and beauty. These ideas are translated and transformed in all of my work.
Humans tend to have a need to categorize in order to understand. Because of this, some groups are marginalized and some others are glorified, depending on the identity of the storyteller.
My identity is made of several layers. Being of a multi-heritage lineage, others often questioned the authenticity of my identity. Maturity gave me the power to create a new name for myself, and to quit allowing stereotypical, social constructs to guide my perceptions. I learned to define myself in the likeness of my own reality.
Boundaries are borders and borders became doors to be opened.
The title of the exhibit indicates that I do not feel anymore the pressure to conform to the familiar or typecasts. Today, I unabashedly and unapologetically choose the script of my stories.
