Artist Statement
A four minute animation and video hybrid, this piece sets itself within the realm of early 2000s nostalgia as an unanswered phone call to my mother, who is a first generation Mexican American. It uses rotoscope animation taken from scenes from the television sitcom I Love Lucy (1951-1957), which features housewife and mother, Lucy Ricardo, set in the 1950s - the peak of Mexican American discrimination with immigration law enforcement initiatives such as Operation Wetback. It also features home video footage from my childhood home. Together, these elements are framed by a damaged VHS aesthetic, symbolizing the fragility of my memories as a child, as I confide to my mother as an adult.
Immigration generational trauma and the American Dream is explored in the piece through the lens of a grieving child, who after the deaths of his father and brother, feels like he also lost his mother - in fact, the piece’s namesake is taken from a Spanish religious song played at family funerals in my childhood. It explores my complex relationship with the idea of the “American Dream”, by examining my childhood experiences that directly contradict such a term. It prompts the question of if the American Dream is real, who is it made for?
Un dia a la vez was screened for the 2024 Annual Junior Show at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY.
