Artwork Collection

Mining For Some Sort of Continuity

Focusing on exile and the ephemeral nature of memory, the series interrogates repercussions of colonization: primarily the constraints on movement across borders. Central to this exploration is the examination of personal archives' ability to shape and preserve an immigrant's individual and cultural identity beyond their native home. The series encompasses archival and documentary image transfers onto various scrap materials: corroded and corrugated metal, as well as fragmented glass pieces.

image transfer experimental process alternative process corroded metal corrugated metal broken glass exile immigration latin american diaspora mexican lens-based archival photograph photography family photographs

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La Esperada (The Waiting)
La Esperada (The Waiting)

Photography

La Esperada (The Waiting)

A family sits on a bench as they wait for the palenque (cock fight) to begin. The image is split chromatically by the blue sky and green fields in the backdrop and the red/yellow light leak that cuts across the family's legs in the foreground. ... More

La Paloma que era Cuervo (A Dove That was a Crow)
La Paloma que era Cuervo (A Dove That was a Crow)

Photography

La Paloma que era Cuervo (A Dove That was a Crow)

The antagonist Luchador "El Alebrije Negro" (Black Alebrije) stands on the rings' ropes as a crowd of children and their parents cheer for his fight during St Pedro Cholula's annual fair. Rust from the metal canvas the same color as the Luchador's... More

La Piñata y La Locura I (Party Favour I)
La Piñata y La Locura I (Party Favour I)

Photography

La Piñata y La Locura I (Party Favour I)

Archival image of my mom’s family at a party in 1970s Mexico. The yellow/greenish tint of an aged and deteriorating photograph is enveloped within a blue-tinted piece of cracking glass. This memory seems to be preserved in some precious type of... More

El Sofa de la Abuela (Grandma's Couch)
El Sofa de la Abuela (Grandma's Couch)

Photography

El Sofa de la Abuela (Grandma's Couch)

Mom and Dad sitting on my Grandma's couch during my Mom's 23rd birthday party in 1990. The blue patina corrosion from the copper plate expands through the image transfer, blending into the floral pattern of the couch onto which they are sitting.

El Palacio de Fierro
El Palacio de Fierro

Photography

El Palacio de Fierro

Rebar columns sticking out of Mexican homes are often mistaken as being unfinished, they are actually left with the hope of someday building a second floor - signs of an optimistic perspective of better things to come. The image's industrial... More

El Charito y sus Primas
El Charito y sus Primas

Photography

El Charito y sus Primas

Family photo of my mom, her sister and their cousins posing in traditional Mexican clothing. The image has been playfully decorated by a slight green patina from the corrosion of the copper plate.

La Piñata y La Locura II (Party Favour II)
La Piñata y La Locura II (Party Favour II)

Photography

La Piñata y La Locura II (Party Favour II)

Archival image of my mom's family at a party in 1970s Mexico. People in the image are blurry due to kids running for the candy spilling from the piñata that my aunt is hitting. My grandma is seen in the background looking over the festivities. ... More

Bending Pleasure
Bending Pleasure

Photography

Bending Pleasure

Digital manipulation of an image depicting a family sitting on a bench as they wait for the palenque (cock fight) to begin. Playing with form and composition, the work blends perspectives and highlights the colors from the image: primarily the blue... More

Tejiendo Palma (Palm Weaving)
Tejiendo Palma (Palm Weaving)

Photography

Tejiendo Palma (Palm Weaving)

Street vendor sits on a sidewalk curb selling woven palm objects in my hometown of Cholula, Puebla. The rust from the metal plate bleeds through the layer of acrylic paint and the image itself.

Cuetero (Firework Man)
Cuetero (Firework Man)

Photography

Cuetero (Firework Man)

Community member putting the finishing touches on a firework figure for La Quema del Panzon, celebrated by the members of Santa Maria Xixitla at the Great Pyramid of Cholula. The man's hands are visible adding fireworks onto the structure of the... More

Las Tierras Malditas (The Cursed Lands)
Las Tierras Malditas (The Cursed Lands)

Photography

Las Tierras Malditas (The Cursed Lands)

Mom as a kid posing in between her sister and cousin during a family trip to Cancun. (Original photo taken in the 1970s)

La Fiesta de los Globos y Las Flores (Festive Balloons and Flowers)
La Fiesta de los Globos y Las Flores (Festive Balloons and Flowers)

Photography

La Fiesta de los Globos y Las Flores (Festive Balloons and Flowers)

Mom posing in between friends at her 23rd birthday party in 1990. The images have been severely deteriorated from the rust of the metal bleeding through the image.

La Sirena (The Mermaid)
La Sirena (The Mermaid)

Photography

La Sirena (The Mermaid)

Various archival images taken by my mother of her friends at different beaches in 1980s Mexico are amalgamated into one. Blue streaks of sky/ocean cut through the top of the copper plate. The metal itself bleeds through the image as the sand color... More

El Tianguis (The Market)
El Tianguis (The Market)

Photography

El Tianguis (The Market)

Flash street photography inside a flea market in Mexico City. The corrugated metal panels hang on a wall emphasizing the warped nature of the found material, providing a unique presentation where shadows cast from panel to panel give a depth to the... More

Cubierto en el Arcoiris (Covered in the Rainbow)
Cubierto en el Arcoiris (Covered in the Rainbow)

Photography

Cubierto en el Arcoiris (Covered in the Rainbow)

Kids walk around in traditional regalia during a parade celebrating Indigenous Communities in Mexio City's zocalo (town square). Rust from the corroded steel bleeds through a layer of acrylic paint and the colorful attires of the image transfer.

El Baile del Torito (Dance of the Bull)
El Baile del Torito (Dance of the Bull)

Photography

El Baile del Torito (Dance of the Bull)

Man runs at a post-Jaripeo dance holding a papier-mache Torito as it shoots fireworks around the venue. The image is framed by two hues of acrylic paint with rust bleeding through the paint and the image itself.

Abstracted Alebrije
Abstracted Alebrije

Photography

Abstracted Alebrije

Detail imagge of an abstracted reconstruction of an image of a Luchador being attacked by two antagonists. The colorful costumes of the fighters alongside the textures from the corrugated metal create an interesting composition.

Work by

Ernesto Cabral de Luna aka. abrokeniris

Lens-based Artist

“My BFA thesis project "Mining For Some Sort of Continuity" interrogates repercussions of colonization: primarily the constraints on movement across borders. The series encompasses archival and...” [More]