Inside (2011)

Photography, Writing, Interviews.

Inside is a project in which I explore the spatial and cultural dimensions from domestic spaces of Mexican families in New York through the objects that shape their homes. The private spaces of migrant families have been largely underexplored. Within these homes, functional and decorative objects coexist—some tied to the new context and others carried along from their place of origin. On one hand, these objects embody beliefs, customs, traditions, and memory; on the other, they reveal the fragilities, desires, and aspirations of their owners. 

In this work, I examine the domestic spaces of twenty Mexican families in New York, where I explore both commonalities and contrasts in how families construct and navigate their identities. As seen in these homes, identities are in a constant state of redefinition—an ongoing negotiation born from the coexistence of objects that originate from the family’s place of origin and those that belong to their migratory destination. Here, emotions for both places collide, complement, and transform the families they inhabit. 

The first phase of the project was dedicated to establishing relationships. I moved between Brooklyn, Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, and Staten to facilitate encounters and extended visits, engaging in long conversations with the families. My intention was to immerse myself in their spaces, to understand the emotional landscape of the domestic environment. The second phase emerged from the negotiation of which images would best capture the spaces and emotions that objects evoke. Finally, using the images from this exploration, I projected them in a community center where I engaged with the families and the audience in a dialogue about what the photographs revealed.

The people who welcomed me into their homes and allowed me to photograph their spaces, despite working long hours at demanding jobs, also attended adult education classes to learn to read and write in Spanish—their native language. This dual reality of determination and vulnerability inspired me to invite them to write a handwritten letter addressed to Mexico, expressing whatever they wished to say to their country .For me, this gesture became a way of confronting, in their own voices, a state that had failed to provide them with fundamental education or the economic stability necessary to remain in their country. These handwritten letters were displayed alongside the photographs, in Spanish, accompanied by English translations when shown outside of Mexico. 

Inside does not merely document a space, but unveils the layered complexities of identity, migration, and belonging—captured through the intimate, yet universal language of objects.

This project was developed during the Art Residency granted by the National Endowment for the Arts and the International Studio & Curatorial Program.