In this series of sculptures made from found objects, I examine the promises we, as a nation, make to people of the world: the promise of freedom, opportunity, dignity, equality, and the possibility of belonging. People do not simply cross borders; they respond to stories, ideals, images, and promises about what life might become.

​

Throughout our short but tumultuous history, these promises have at times been honored and at other times betrayed. The history of immigration is therefore also a history of contradiction—between invitation and exclusion, freedom and confinement, hope and disappointment, belonging and otherness.

​

The found objects in these works carry their own histories. Discarded, displaced, altered, or repurposed, they become metaphors for people whose lives have been shaped by movement, separation, adaptation, and the search for a place to belong. By bringing these objects together, I create encounters between things that might otherwise never meet, much as immigration brings different histories, cultures, memories, and aspirations into a shared space.

​

Ultimately, this series is about responsibility. The promises we make as a nation are not merely words or historical ideals; they are commitments that define who we are. It is our responsibility to remember them, to recognize when we have failed to keep them, and to faithfully renew them. For these promises—to liberty, equality, opportunity, and human dignity—are not simply what we offer others. They are among the things that make us who we are.

​

​

​