Home Is Where The Heart Is

“Home Is Where The Heart Is” is a reflection on belonging, finding your place and understanding that home isn't just tied to a geographic location, but to the relationships we carry with ourselves, our loved ones and our surroundings.  I began working on this series as a way to elaborate the challenges and the changes that are taking place in my life as I've been living in between countries for the past 3 years while navigating a long immigration process. It's easy to feel like I don’t fully belong anywhere anymore. At the same time, I'm also getting a chance to learn that home comes from my relationship with myself and my body, and from the supportive relationships and bonds that make me feel loved and appreciated wherever I am.

These artworks are inspired by found vintage photographs that stood still in time. Even though those moments were captured long before I was born, they still felt familiar and showed me memories of others that in my eyes truly embodied belonging and the feeling of home. I start by setting an intention of uplifting and honoring the people portrayed in what I'm about to create. I'm led by intuition when picking the colors to paint the characters, almost as I am capturing their auras with the choices I make. I then paint with acrylic inks a soft-pink sparkling wallpaper from my first solo show that took place in my hometown to honor where I came from. Last, but not least, I crochet the painting as a way to honor my lineage and my community. I also see crocheting the piece as an offering of care, warmth, protection and safety - aspects that are interconnected with what home means to me.