2009.93.2

• ephemera

This is a steel cutout used by the artist Carmen Lomas Garza. The object is 16 gauge laser cut steel with black paint powder-coating over the surface. The composition shows nopal cacti with two hummingbirds drinking nectar out of the flowers. Barbed wire and leafy branches appear in the upper part of the composition.

"Artist Statement: / This image has multiple meanings. Hummingbirds migrate to and from the United States and Mesoamerica each year. They fly over the Gulf of Mexico and over the land corridor of Central and Eastern Texas along the gulf Coast over Kingsville, my hometown. Their natural persistence for migration knows no borders. Other hummingbirds in the Southwestern Unites States make their nests in nopal cactus plants and eat the small flies that visit the flowers. At times when the wind is too strong a hummingbird returning to its nest will be impaled on the surrounding thorns. / In ancient Mesoamerica hummingbirds were seen as the spirits of warriors killed in battle and women who died in childbirth. They have the honor of accompanying the sun on its journey across the sky. / Migrant workers from Mexico and Central America have been crossing over the barbed wire fences that were installed across their ancient paths and will persist on their journeys even in great danger. This cutout is dedicated to the men, women, and children who died on their journey to the United States." Per Lisa Silberstein, this metal cutout is used as a template for creating cut-paper work. A metal piece on one end is used to register the paper.

Used: Carmen Lomas Garza