Persia Campbell
Border Reminiscences
When the war against the cartel began in Ciudad Juarez (a border city with USA) back in 2006, many of us took refuge in our private spaces (in our homes and in our bedrooms). In view of the public spaces being taken over by terrorism and violence, we made our homes a safe haven, a sanctuary where we spent most of our time given that we were subjected to an implicit involuntary confinement. This series represents duality and contrast. The interiors are fully decorated in pastels in representation of our border aesthetic. The violence, public spaces, and the war on drugs are displayed on the television and newspaper placed in the room, this depicting the active role of the media on the strategies of terrorism that affected everyone that lives in this city. The series is an auto-biographical self-portrait that speaks of a moment in my life: the isolation caused by the war against the drug cartels. Within that isolation I asked myself Why I lived here on the border? Why i live in one of the most dangerous cities in the world? And the answer came by taking a look at my ancestors and my life around the border. Today I portray it, I remember it and I work on it to see it with a critical look but at the same time to give another meaning to that traumatic episode.
