JULIA JUSTO

ARTIST STATEMENT:

Julia Justo is an interdisciplinary artist, born in Argentina with Indigenous-Italian ancestry. Her artistic practice examines issues of labor, memory and migration via interdisciplinary works. Using strategies drawn from the fields of education, research and community activism, she invites participation and collective imagining. 

She works across a variety of disciplines such as mixed media, fiber art and social practice. Her work seeks to illuminate histories at risk of erasure in this time of gentrification by referencing lessons of survival in today's day and age. The medium of embroidery allows her to acknowledge the contributions of the undocumented immigrant she portrays while at the same time conceal and protect their identities. Embroidery also allows her to include the concept of repetition often found in manual labor, addressing notions of visibility related to immigrant labor in the U.S.