[Status]Quo
Humans connect through universal and individual experiences, and Puerto Ricans have experienced uncertainty about political and cultural truths. The instability and fractured status penetrate deep into our identity. Most Puerto Ricans experience a cultural and physical detachment from the United States, regardless of being part of the diaspora or living on the island.
For Puerto Ricans, the sea forms an essential element of our history and identity. Therefore, I adopted elements associated with the sea to represent the literal and metaphorical disconnection between our worlds. Usually, a dock serves as something stationary and firm to which boats can be secured, preventing them from going adrift. I juxtapose two piers to create a dialogue regarding the colonial status and paradoxical relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States.
The contradiction between the two docks is analogous to the status between two countries, which does not seem to find a resolution from the status quo. Similarly, the narrow and vertical photograph of the sea heightens the physical and metaphorical void between our worlds, and the incapability to reach or distance ourselves from our reality. Ironically, after Hurricane María, Donald Trump used the distance from our countries to excuse the lack of aid provided by his administration. He said, “This is an island surrounded by big water, ocean water.”
I attempt to visually represent the repeating dialog of fictional liberty, dependence, statehood, and how our truth gets distorted as a result of uncertain status. By looking at this work, I invite the viewer to wonder about interdependence and the uncertainty of change.
