Deriva / Adrift: The Migrant Experience

Diego Anaya, Pablo Caviedes, Hermann Mejía, Moses Ros, and Carlos Torres Machado are the five artists who are part of the ArteLatAm collective, producing artwork in various disciplines. They are now presenting their first portfolio of prints, entitled Deriva / Adrift: The Migrant Experience. This linoleography edition of twenty-five prints and three artist’s proofs, in 11’ x 8.5”, deals with a very significant topic all over the world.

The Migrant Experience is rooted in the history of the world. One can even say that it is rooted in humanity itself. Migration is not a one-way action, nor does it have only one reason for being or a specific beginning and end. The art experience is equally rooted in the world’s history. In the sentence above, the word ‘art’ can easily replace the word ‘migration’ and it would all still make perfect sense. Both terms are intertwined, and both have to do with origin and survival. Humanity has survived many natural disasters and wars. The suffering of people adrift, trying to escape violence, torture, famine, flooding, and more, frames situations like family separation and lives lost in the process of fleeing.

Carlos Torres Machado, an Ecuadorean-American artist, refers to something universal like the neighborhood in the titles: Mi Barrio, Tu Barrio, El Barrio, meaning My Neighborhood, Your Neighborhood, The Neighborhood. The lines of varied thickness draw invented maps that feature open-ended roads. One could understand this as a positive expression for the people who emigrate. The Migrant Experience can be more difficult when it is enclosed, and limited. Although choosing among many open roads can create anxiety, at least they are open opportunities. These artworks have a predominance of organic forms and curves that orient the prints in the human realm, and one can discover a couple of figures as well.