Madre, Residente y Ciudadana

(Mother, Resident and Citizen)

Mixed Media

2017

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In response to a consideration of themes of visibility, I am considering the visibility of immigrants within the structure of government identification and paperwork. I show my mother’s real Florida driver’s license which is a legitimization of her identity as a US citizen. Yet, the shapes of a fragmented permanent resident document obstruct this document, bringing her citizenship and her hypothetical resident status to the same level of visibility. Through the fictional resident card I want to highlight how an immigrant, despite becoming naturalized, can still face conflicts with visibility and power as their identity is still very much linked to paperwork.