Paper short abstract:

Camilo Ontiveros's work Temporary Storage: The Belongings of Juan Manuel Montes, 2017 is a sculptural composed of what remained of Montes' possessions after his deportation which speaks to the transitory nature of migration and the impermanence of home as a movable element.

Paper long abstract:

On February 17, 2017 Juan Manuel Montes became the first Dreamer to be deported under Trump's administration. Three years later news about deportations and the migration crisis make up the majority of headlines to the point that people are becoming anesthetized to the border crisis. These issues of migration have ignited the imagination of those in the creative fields—particularly artists who are using their work as a way to shock the audience by making them face these issues in unexpected settings. With this in mind, this presentation will focus on Camilo Ontiveros's practice and his repurposing of everyday materials to represent the migrant experience as sculptures and installations. Specifically I will focus on his work Temporary Storage: The Belongings of Juan Manuel Montes, 2017. As the title implies, the sculpture is composed of what remained of Montes' possessions after his deportation. Recalling the haphazardly tied objects one might encounter on trucks crossing the border this piece speaks to the transitory nature of migration and the impermanence of home as a movable element. I seek to place this work within Ontiveros's larger artistic practice in order to highlight his exploration of the US-Mexico border, and its autobiographical significance, through politically charged works. Specifically I am interested in how through his works objects take on the identity of the person who is no longer there.