Hope, a photo installation about U.S. immigration, is on display currently at Five Myles Gallery in Crown Heights.
Hope, by Colombian-American artist and photographer Andres Hoyos, examines why immigrants to the U.S. still dare to dream and seek freedom in this country, despite the very well-known obstacles they expect to face once arriving ...
"With this project, I want to show how fragile life can be under the immense pressure of having to immigrate," said Hoyos an immigrant himself.
"With this project, I want to show how fragile life can be under the immense pressure of having to immigrate," said Hoyos.
"The risks you take moving your life and your family; exposing those you love to discomfort, uncertainty, fear, and injustice; and to leave your home with few belongings and travel great distances is a journey of immense faith and hope for the chance at a new beginning."
Hoyos has studied art in New York and Barcelona and primarily works in mixed media with found and recycled objects. He has participated in exhibitions in private and public galleries in the United States and Spain. His work also is part of the private collection of the Colombian embassy in Washington D.C.
Many of the photos in the exhibit feature vertical suitcases sitting in an expansive, grassy knoll (shot in Prospect Park). What you see inevitably time and time again is loneliness and at the same time, vast opportunity.
These same luggages are featured inside the exhibit room as a sculpture display, along with large, sturdy plastic bags-- the kind often used in America to carry groceries or laundry. Hoyos said the bags have become a popular means of transport for many immigrants in need of an inexpensive, lightweight and reliable way to travel.
"The clash between the plastic bags and the vintage luggage tells us about different times and circumstances when human waves have moved from one country to another leaving everything behind and starting a new life that could be the only way to survive, the only light of hope," Hoyos said.
"With the children's luggage caged in, I wanted to touch on what has been happening at our borders since May of last year...
"I can not imagine how terrified a child would be to be separated from [his or] her parents. It's a hard event to focus on, but something we should look at clearly and not forget."
Hope is on display from January 5 - January 20, 2019, Thursdays through Sundays, from 1:00pm - 6:00pm or by appointment.
