by Richard Levine
These portraits are part of a solo exhibit I am having in November 2019 at River Road Unitarian Church in Bethesda, MD. The show will also include abstract paintings depicting the transforming effects of climate change on geography and culture. These paintings are inspired by the tragic consequences of our immigration policies, which call for me to respond as an artist. Climate and immigration are inextricably linked; Central Americans emigrating northward are being driven not just by poverty and crime, but also by the harsh effects drought is having on agriculture.
These portraits are derived from newspaper stories and photographs of people at the border seeking asylum or attempting to locate missing, separated children. My aim is to present them with their dignity and humanity intact, not just as “illegals,” “aliens,” and “undocumented.”
"The wall stands as our new emblem" writes Grey Grandin in his book "The End of The Myth". We have become "a country that increasingly defines itself by what it hates."
Acrylic and graphite on Arches.
Patricia with her son Jose, 8, from Honduras. He crossed the border by himself then spent 8 months in custody until reunited with his mother.
From a photo by Ilana Panich-Linsman, The New York Times,
Acrylic, watercolor, graphite on tissue mounted to canvas.
Her 3-year old daughter, Ashley, was taken by border agents last month. "My daughter can't understand, she just weeps and begs to be with us."
The New York Times, March 10, 2019.
From a photo by Jim Wilson.
Acrylic and graphite on Arches.
Central American migrants holding close for warmth as they are held at the border in an enclosed area beneath the Paso del Norte Bridge in El Paso.
3/29/19 The New York Times, from a photo by Tamir Kalifa.
Acrylic and collage on Arches.
Young children taken from their mothers and fathers and bused away; an inhumane and immoral policy.
Acrylic and graphite on Arches.
A Honduran mother and child wait in Mexico for a chance to apply for asylum.
From a photo by Orlando Sierra, Getty Images.
Graphite, collage and acrylic on Arches.
"There is no them, there is only us"
Acrylic and graphite on Arches.
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