“Lo Hago Para Ti”
“I do it for you”
Lo Hago Para Ti serves as a reflection of my life growing up in the United States trying to find out who I am. I am an American, but I am also Mexican, son of immigrants, and a descendent of Mixtecs. I chose to center this project around an altar due to its ability to tell the history of my family. An altar not only commemorates those you lost but tells the story of who you are. Images 1-3 shows a glimpse of my life, a photo of my recently immigrated mom holding me by the lake to me being one of the first of my family to graduate high school. This project expanded to me exploring the idea of prayer and familial love through generations. My little brother serves as a reflection of me awhile also showing the strength of familial bond that spans not only distance but generations.
As I explored my family’s history and traditions, one symbol appeared many times and that is La Virgen de Guadalupe. Before immigrants embark into their treacherous journey, they pray to La Virgen seeking guidance and safe passage to a better life. They pray that she will protect their family while they are gone and hopefully one day be reunited with them once again. La Virgen de Guadalupe has served as a testament to the resilience of indigenous people; a strength that is now embodied in modern-day immigrants. I chose to depict my youngest sister as La Virgen because my parent’s choice to immigrate was for their kids to have a better life.
As a child I began to understand the sacrifices that my parents made and when I got older, I saw the pain they go through being far away from their own parents. My late grandmother stands on top of the altar, a woman that I would talk to on the phone every week as kid but never had the chance to hug her in person. There will forever be a separation from me and my family due to physical and emotional barriers. I can see my grandparents, my ancestors, my culture but I am unable to reach them. I pray to La Virgen that one day my family will be reunited because everything I do is for my parents, my grandparents, and my ancestors.
