Lisa Reinertson /Art Currents: December 2020

“Borderlands”

Sculpture by Lisa Reinertson

Artist Statement

The inhumanity and militarization of our border policies weighs on our country’s conscience, and grieves my heart. By creating artworks that speak to the dignity and struggle of the personal experience, my intention is to touch our hearts. My hope is to remind us of the human decency that our country has tried to stand for, and to inspire people to think about how we can reclaim the goodness in us as a people.

“Disappeared” - Thousands of people have died and disappeared in the borderland deserts over the years. Fear tactics are used by Border Patrol that end up increasing the likelihood for people to become disappeared in the desert. Tactics such as helicopter use cause groups to scatter and become lost. The tampering with essential supplies can mean that migrants will not have access to water or will fear to drink or eat. In 2017, my daughter volunteered with No More Deaths/No Más Muertes, a humanitarian aid organization that seeks to end death and suffering in the US-Mexico borderlands. Volunteers hike into the desert and leave water and other essential supplies for survival. After years of their legal humanitarian aid being allowed and respected by international law and Border Officials, under the Trump administration, they have been targeted, harassed, first aid shelters raided, and volunteers arrested.

"Portrait of an Asylum Seeker" is a portrait a transgender woman who was escaping from persecution, sexual assault and targeted violence in Central America. She joined a caravan of asylum-seeking refugees where she befriended and traveled with another trans woman. While being held in a Border Detention Facility, her friend became sick and died, due to negligent lack of medical care and cold cells. My brother and his partner were signed up to host both of these women, but only one made it to their home. As she awaited her asylum trail, I asked her if she would pose for me. With the help of a good lawyer that works with the LGBTQ Asylum Project, she was awarded asylum during our time working on this sculpture!

“Mother Arrested” For mothers escaping violence and seeking safety and asylum in this country to suddenly have their children torn from them at the border, as a deterrent policy in the United States of America, is deeply shocking and disturbing, and heartbreaking. All the ideals of justice, compassion and moral standing of the United States was thrown away by this administration instituting this punitive and cruel policy. Images of children in cages lying on concrete floors covered in Mylar blankets both enragedme and broke my heart. Now “officials” have lost track of thousands of the children. This is unconscionable. We must vote and take action, now.

On May 7, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it had implemented a “Zero Tolerance” policy, dictating that all migrants who cross the border without permission, including those seeking asylum, be referred to the DOJ for prosecution. Undocumented asylum seekers were imprisoned, and any accompanying children under the age of 18 were handed over to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which shipped them miles away from their parents and scattered them among 100 Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelters and other care arrangements across the country. Hundreds of these children, including infants and toddlers, were under the age of 5. Prior to the Trump administration, families were generally paroled into the country to await their immigration cases or detained together. (“https://www.splcenter.org/news/2020/06/17/family-separation-under-trump-administration-timeline)

30% of proceeds of any sales from this exhibition will be donated to No More Deaths/No Mas Muertes, RAICES, (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services), and/or Diversidad Trans.

Artworks