ARTIST STATEMENT

I am a person of color, brown to be specific. A descendant of immigrants who came to America seeking those lofty promises etched into the Statue of Liberty. A place where they would be judged not by the color of their skin, not by the religion they practiced, not by the language they spoke but by the content of their character, the struggle in their heart and the integrity of their soul. What is Asylum but a safe harbor, a port in the storm of racism, poverty, persecution? A place to live without fear and with the freedom to dream and follow those dreams. The central image in my piece is Man, stripped of color, gender, nationality or ethnicity. Those things we so often use to judge our fellow human beings. Our strength lies not in the walls we build but in the doors we open and the freedom we share.