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1 media/Senior_011_thumb.jpg 2026-05-08T19:10:26+00:00 Ami Carrera 3e3f4c5e9f1beaa0a6d87fc56cad4c0396b2f5f4 446 1 plain 2026-05-08T19:10:26+00:00 Ami Carrera 3e3f4c5e9f1beaa0a6d87fc56cad4c0396b2f5f4This page is referenced by:
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2026-05-08T18:56:22+00:00
Ami Carrera
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gallery
2026-05-08T19:28:48+00:00
“Ya viene la manĚana, el lucero resplandece/ The Morning is Coming, The Light is Shining.”
Psalms 23
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
By creating this installation, I hope to provide a similar sense of comfort in difficult times, amid global and political tensions. Using textiles and a wide range of embroidery techniques and woodworking skills, I created a four-panel polyptych, each 40 in. tall and 20in. wide, depicting Psalm 23, a psalm known for offering comfort to those facing difficulties and hardships. While the developing factor of this was a comforting psalm in the bible, it was important for me not to centralize it to only appeal to people who had similar beliefs, but direct it towards nature as an inclusive spiritual experience, focusing on the comforting characteristics of fabric in our daily lives. Especially in these times, when religion is weaponized to oppress marginalized groups, returning these beliefs to love, respect, and compassion for all. The scenes of the polyptych stemmed from the more nature-centric imagery given in the Psalm, such as green pastures, still waters, and valleys. Along with the main panels, the top panels work together to depict an image of the sun rising, directly referencing the title: the night, along with its troubles, is ending, and the sunlight is returning to shine on us.
This emphasis on nature and serenity is meant to contrast the landscape before it, soft canvas sculptures to be weighed down by cement that has image transferred rhetoric. Each soft sculpture’s image has been carefully chosen to represent something pertinent in my life, but also applicable to the general: Immigration rights, women’s rights, and the status of our economy in this time. These cement weights demonstrate how these issues are being systematically and societally oppressed, weighing onto these hopes and dreams that we have as individuals and as a society. While the images reflect my life, it's meant to broaden to contemporary national happenings.
These competing tensions between Eurocentric art practices, the piece influenced by early modern altarpieces, and Mexican emphasis on textiles are consolidated with themes of deconstructing European influence by integrating them with folk art. This project helps with my individual separation of colonized perspective ideas, focusing more on Mexican concepts such as beauty in nature and emphasis on community. The inclusion of the top structure, being stained glass, is my way of accepting the fact that with the way our society is built, my perspective will always be influenced by Eurocentric mindsets, but they will no longer dominate me; I will control their influence.
On top of this, this project was a heavily technical experiment to further my knowledge and skills. It was not a project centering perfection in my craft, but emphasizing my drive to learn and broaden my technical horizon.