Unifying Latin American Families - Visual Art

by Farid De La Ossa Arrieta

(Note: Click on the icon at top right of the photo to enlarge the artwork.)

    This art piece was inspired by the uncertainty that many Latin American families have experienced as a result of political climate changes in the United States in 2017, especially regarding treatment of undocumented individuals.

     “Unifying Latin American Families” was made in San Francisco, California, on a 10” x 8” pastel paper piece with color pencils, blue and black ink, and water paint. Hicks (2005) affirmed that everyday aesthetic practices have intersected in one way or another with cultural meanings, political power, and opportunities for liberation. Following those lines, cultural traditions are so inherent and so relevant to Latin American immigrants as tattoos are for those that wear them. “Unifying Latin American Families” indicates such analogy by presenting the union of a group of arms tattooed with different kinds of Latin American traditions’ images within the main circle. Then, uncertainty is displayed in the outer part of the main circle by incorporating different kinds of traffic signs pointing to all kinds of directions. Hence, this art piece’s purpose is to show the resiliency that Latin American families have had despite the creation of harsh regulations against them in the United States in 2017.     

Reference

Hicks, L.E. (2005). Explorations of visual culture: Written on the body. CultureWork, 9 (3). Retrieved from http://pages.uoregon.edu/culturwk/march05hicks.html

About the Artist

Farid De La Ossa Arrieta was born in Colombia (South America) in 1975. He moved to the United States in 2001 and became a U.S. citizen in 2014. Farid lives in San Francisco, California (CA), where he has worked with several social service agencies. Currently, he is completing a part-time Master of Social Work program at California State University East Bay. He provides mental health services to Latin American immigrants at Familias Unidas in Richmond (CA) as an intern, and is working per diem as a visitation specialist at Rally Family Visitation Services at San Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco (CA).