Echando Pa'lante
Echando Pa’lante is an embroidered tapestry that documents the cycle of immigration in my family. It depicts my father’s and my childhood memories; his growing up in the Dominican Republic and moving to Puerto Rico, and my growing up in Puerto Rico and moving to the US. The depicted scenes capture the essence of our memories but take a fantastical turn as architecture is imagined and color holds emotion. Over time, memories of place become abstracted and idolized as reality fades from them. When I remember my islands, I imagine things my body knows but can’t fully recall. Throughout the composition, time and place are interwoven; at the top, I stand on the staircase outside of my childhood home, watching my father, as a child, climb the mango tree in my backyard. With thread, I examine the similarities of our childhoods whilst acknowledging my privilege compared to his, capturing moments of hardship, joy, and grief on cloth. Though the journey is personal, the emotions contained are common within the immigrant community. The work emerges from the current anti-immigrant climate, leaving me considering the generation to come, and wondering, where do I have to go to give them more?
Bio
Adriana Mia Uribe-Rodriguez is a Puerto Rican and Dominican artist working in textiles and fashion. Her work explores the possibilities of decolonial textiles and garments and examines the consequences of colonialism– reframing them through personal lived experiences. She creates unique textile and fashion objects through careful consideration of concept and material.
