Homeland

My first two figurative attempts were not working for me.  I first tried using Tinkercad, to create a 3D sculpture, but I am not experienced enough making figures. The failed and abandoned Tinkercad file is figure 1.  I found out polymer clay is not my thing.  Abandoned polymer clay projectk, See figure 2.  None of those I could get to speak to my identity, although it could probably be achieved with more experience, patience, and time. 

This piece is titled, Homeland.   It is a file for a 3D print, see figure 3.  My identity has everything to do with where I am from, where I have been and the migrations of my ancestors.

The heart is for the Rio Grande Valley where my parents were born, where my ancestors settled to, and where I spend most of my childhood and currently live (although I am in school in Lubbock).  The RGV is my home.  But I was born in a suburb of Chicago, as were all my sisters.  My dad worked at a steel mill, was an auxiliary police officer, a paralegal, and tax processor, and my mom was a full-time care giver, and still is.  When he retired we went back to the RGV.  My sisters moved to the Valley, but the Chicago girl in them never left them.  I was too young to be a Chicago girl.

My maiden name is Alvarado.  I’ve been doing genealogy for almost four years.  I have dipped as far back as the late 1600’s and early 1700’s on some lines.  I have a method for this research, and I triple check my facts.  I have listed all my grandfathers and grandmothers that I have unearthed and put them across Texas, and I included my parents. See closeup in figure 4.  That is four years of research.  I have the spiritual belief that we carry ancestral memory.  Texas was Northern Mexico, and before it was Mexico it was indigenous land.  For hundreds of years my ancestors lived in Nuevo Leon Mexico.  That is what the NL stands for.  They were campesinos, laborers, and perhaps they couldn’t leave.  During the turmoil of the Mexican Revolution, they decided to migrate to the Rio Grande Valley, where they could find work. 

I wish I could find and identify the indigenous peoples that I come from.  If I had to guess, it would be either Coahuiltecan or Comocrudo, or Chichimec.  However, the Spanish effectively eradicated them in Nuevo Leon and throughout.  It’s hard to tell, but the only thing I came close to in my search is “raza indigena blanca.”  That translates to indigenous race, but white.  According to Chicana poet Carmen Tafolla, this meant that they were mixed with enough Spanish to function in society, as opposed to those with stronger indigenous genetics. 

Across Texas I placed Alvarado, my maiden name, right in the spot Lubbock would be.  I’ve probably stated this before, but last fall I found out my great grandfathers Marciano had died in Tahoka, Texas in 1941.  I knew he had died while he was working, as they were migrant workers following the cotton harvest.  I had no idea that he died near Lubbock.   This had a profound effect on me.  I feel like I am here because of the sacrifices that my ancestors made to make a better life for their children.  My dad, had a dream of being a lawyer, but got drafted and never got to finish his degree.   So I think of my ancestors when I drive to and from Lubbock honoring their struggle.  The “Alvarado” is the signature of my great grandpa Marciano on his WW I draft registration card when he crossed in 1918 with his family to make a new life in the RGV. See figure 5.

I left my project to print on Friday, but the print would take over four hours.  The printing lab is closed on Saturdays.  I have included a clip when it began printing. 

Fig. 1 Tinkercad figure.  

Fig. 2 Polymer clay sculpture.  

Fig. 3 3D Print in printing software.  

Fig. 4 Ancestors names on 3D print.  

Fig. 5 My great-grandfather's signature. 

Video clip of Homeland being printed.