los[t] archivos
Elizabeth Chang

In my practice, I deliberately highlight the space between the visible and invisible, political and poetic, and language and meaning. This intentional ambiguity provides room for multiple interpretations and active participation in meaning-making. Fragments suggest larger systems, transparent materials communicate the ephemeral, and text and archival documents question the delineation between objective facts and subjective truths. I create a space where viewers can engage in a nuanced exploration of complex narratives, weaving together the threads that connect individuals to their histories and communities. 

The transparent quality of etched immigration cards on acrylic becomes a metaphor in my exploration, allowing glimpses of legible text to accentuate the dual nature of visibility and invisibility of a community and its history. These immigration cards, issued to foreigners in 1930s Mexico, include Korean immigrants who arrived in 1905 to work on the henequen plantations on the Yucatán. This process sheds light on archives as both legitimizing documents and wielders of knowledge and power, simultaneously obscuring and revealing the narratives they contain. 

The transformation of common tote bags, discovered in the markets of Mexico City, into resin-cast artifacts symbolizes the remarkable within the everyday histories of immigrants and their communities. This process elevates ordinary objects into vessels of significance, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging and preserving collective memory.