Refugio/Refuge

Time is relative. When one thinks something will not last forever, they mark the time. Cultures mark time with calendars, an hourglass, seasons or a harvest. For many, the regimented consumption of coffee drinking marks our day. The daily consumption and disposal of the filter and the grounds is a ritual without much consideration regarding the origin of the imported product. The installation includes a wall of coffee filters with hand drawn barbed wire marking the most common paths of the migrants from Central America through Mexico to the United States.

Time for immigrants is often marked in segments between living in their native lands and their arrival into the new country. This segment of time is definitive and becomes part of their identity often mentioned in social settings when visiting with other immigrants.

The installation includes a shelter "Refuge" made of Latin American burlap coffee bags, a woven fabric made of naturally organic fibers. Most of the coffees produced worldwide are from Latin America. Many countries have shifted their agriculture to become monocrops due to profitable harvests from international trade and export economies. This can lead to socioeconomic problems when interwoven with an agricultural crisis combined with political instability. The result is often mass migration of asylum seekers who flee their country to complete dangerous journeys. The exiled refugees are required to find temporary residence along the way. The installation references the shelters built bu migrants for survival, a safe space to protect themselves from animals, insects and the elements until they reach their destination.