Artist Statement

Escarleth Fernandez is a Bolivian-born American. 

Did that make any sense to you? Well, to be fair Bolivia is part of South America. But if that still doesn’t make sense, I came to the United States when I was merely a 4-year-old toddler and I tried to integrate into this society as quickly as I could, so I think that makes me “American” enough. 

But, I am still deemed an “other” because I am an immigrant and oh my, my native tongue is Spanish, so I have an accent, I have a darker complexion, and you know I’ve stolen a few jobs, here and there (haha). 

Needless, to say there comes a point where you have to understand the often misunderstood. In our present political climate, the label immigrant is attached to words such as “criminal,” “rapist,” or “lazy.” Thus, I hope my work explores the complexities of immigrants in the United States– who they really are, what their aspirations, beliefs, and identities are– and in doing so supersede the stigmatized depiction of the immigrant.