Words of an (Ink)migrant
Reimagining Immigration and Immigrants (Reimagining Us) was first announced with a fundraiser event on February 26th, 2019, in New York. The event featured an art exhibition titled Words of an (INK)migrant, showcasing a series of black and white ink paintings by Chris Yong-Garcia. These works reflected Chris’s introspections on his journey as an immigrant from Peru to the United States, where he has established a home while exploring new avenues of creativity and connection. The event was attended by Ambassador Marita Landaveri, Peru’s General Consul in New York, who also introduced the exhibit.
Art Benefit Show
Words of an (Ink)migrant
How long does it take for an immigrant to feel that the ground is finally firm under his feet? It could take 13 years. And how does an immigrant learn that the ground is firm under his feet? It may be that after 13 years he returns to artistic creation. Chris Yong-García, graphic designer and editor of Latin-Lover magazine, was born in Lima, Peru, in 1972, and painting was part of his daily life during his youth. Until in 1999 he came to New York, a city that met some of the needs, whether vague or concrete, that make one become an immigrant. And among all the things, the affections, the colors, and the smells that he left behind was painting.
The series of ink drawings on paper presented in Words of an (Ink)migrant was made during the year 2012, which marked Yong-García's 13th anniversary living in New York City—and his 40th as a citizen of this world. They represent the very personal moment in which he returned to art. Nevertheless, he did not return to painting: "Chris, you can no longer paint like you used to, because you are not the same", one of his professors accurately said to him. Instead, he turned to drawing, to ink, to scrawling signs, to scribbling words; or as Peruvian poet J. E. Eielson wrote, to pursuing the world "at the bottom of an inkwell / to the end of writing". However, it is not the end for Yong-García, but rather the beginning of establishing his identity as an immigrant.
The Peruvian and Chinese heritage of the artist—heritage from ancestors who in turn migrated to and within Peru—is also present in these graphic works. Works that now constitute the first piece of a much larger idea: Reimagining Immigration and Immigrants. The exhibition Words of an (Ink)migrant indeed marks the beginning of this ambitious artistic endeavor, which will develop over the next two years. Reimagining Immigration and Immigrants aims to bring together artists, designers, communicators, academics, and other experts from New York City to reshape the way that migrants are perceived while promoting empathy and unity. In the current environment of polarization, where the image of the immigrant is being demonized for political purposes, Chris Yong-García's project has an urgent relevance.
José Chueca
