Nery Gabriel Lemus was so moved by his conversations with Borrego Springs High School students that he asked them to contribute their family stories of migration to incorporate into a public portrait of the community.
Nery Gabriel Lemus was so moved by his conversations with Borrego Springs High School students that he asked them to contribute their family stories of migration to incorporate into a public portrait of the community titled Beneath, Between, and Behind.
Lemus collected the stories within an outdoor structure with vibrantly colored walls recalling the hues of a desert sunset. Viewers had to duck under its walls to enter. Once inside, one found an intimate space memorializing these individual voices. Lemus has created a different kind of monument, inspiring empathy and compassion as well as pride.
Beneath, Between, and Behind, 2020, Wood, acrylic, ceramic, and mixed media site-specific installation, Galleta Meadows, Borrego Springs, California. Commissioned for the 2020 Candlewood Arts Festival by Under the Sun Foundation. Images courtesy of the artist.
