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Machado\u2019s concern with establishing economic stability in a country her parents fought so hard to reach is common among most first-generation Americans. The perceived responsibility to justify the struggle of immigrant parents and achieve the elusive \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d is a heavy weight to bear. That pressure, however, comes with the privilege of access to resources that past generations of immigrant families could only dream of\u2014a privilege of which Machado is astutely aware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This combination of responsibility and privilege motivates Machado in creating holistic representations of the Central American identity and making space for the dynamic narratives of Central American culture in the traditionally elite world of art. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked about how her parents have responded to her art hanging in galleries from Los Angeles to Italy, Machado said: \u201cI think they get very excited and proud to see it. A lot of the art world is very elite so my work has provided a space for my parents and their histories in that world. We take up space in places that I never thought I\u2019d be in and I got to this point because of my family\u2019s support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Machado\u2019s calling, to address the absence of Central American narratives in the art world, mirrors that of artist Kerry James Marshall and his work in emphasizing the absence of Black figures within an art history context. Machado notes Marshall as one of her primary influences both in art and activism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the flourishing Latinx art scene in Los Angeles, living and creating under the hegemony of Mexican culture has proven to be difficult for Machado who feels that her work is constantly misconstrued to be Mexican or Chicanx.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI feel a little helpless sometimes, it gets incredibly frustrating having to make the constant effort of reiterating the purpose behind my work in representing Central American identity,\u201d Machado said. \u201cThere are always art shows with all-Latinx contributors but the art ends up being solely Mexican, so that makes me question how diverse these spaces really are. It\u2019s hard but I think that we\u2019re slowly making changes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Late last year, Machado traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border, along with her fellow Quetzal Migrante collective members, Lulu Matute, Oona Valle, and Dulce L\u00f3pez. Their objectives were to paint a collaborative mural on a portion of the border wall as well as to facilitate healing workshops for primarily Central American migrants waiting to submit their asylum cases at the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The healing workshops included guided meditations and physical art workshops in which migrants who were interested in creating their own works of art were welcomed to paste them onto the border bars. Folks were also encouraged to contribute to the mural, keeping a specific question in mind: \u201cHow do you and your community envision a world of freedom, without borders or obstacles?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As it stands, the mural currently depicts a quetzal flying over a volcano with mother and child standing in the foreground on one end and another larger quetzal surrounded by flowers on the other. The collective has left the folks at the border with the liberty to add to the mural on their own and plans to return within the next few months to see how the mural has evolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quetzal Migrante\u2019s work at the border aims to combat the xenophobia Central American migrants experience on their journey through Mexico to the U.S.-Mexico border and provide a platform for them to express themselves on their own terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was a really beautiful experience to be able to see the families that have formed between the folks who are in the process of crossing,\u201dMachado said of her experience working with Central American migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. They have no blood ties but built a strong camaraderie amongst each other and have formed bonds out of their shared traumas and experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This transformative experience of solidarity at the U.S.-Mexico border along with the beautifully resilient Central American community Machado grew up immersed in are apparent in each of her stunning paintings, many of which will be featured in her upcoming exhibition, \u201cDiario Entrada Uno.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kiara Aileen Machado\u2019s \u201cDiario Entrada Uno\u201d art series opens Friday, Jan. 24 at 6 p.m. at Acci\u00f3n Latina\u2019s Juan R. Fuentes Gallery, 2958 24th St., San Francisco. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday – Friday and the exhibition will run through March 6.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Central American community is frequently associated with violence, crime and devastation by today\u2019s sensationalism-driven media. This wave of hyper-generalized misinformation has resulted in the dangerous misunderstanding of Central America and the wrongful criminalization of its people. However, determined as the current administration may be to cement this toxic image of Central America, the resistance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":42576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"coauthors":[18445],"class_list":["post-42574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Kiara-2_web.jpg?resize=1500%2C1125&quality=89&ssl=1\")