Some banners displayed ideas of identity,power and belonging in the US.

The work presents garments, banners,samplers,quilts some of which were collaborated in her community,exploring the immigrants experiences

By The Artist

As an immigrant and a daughter of a seamstress, I learned to sew at age six. It was not a choice but rather a necessity to help my mother earn a living. In this way, sewing has ever since been an important part of me, my body memory, and my politics.

Sewing is my medium to investigate identity politics, immigration and immigrant labor, possession and dispossession, citizenship and belonging, dissent and protest, and race politics in the United States.

My art practice situates itself at the intersection of fiber, social practice, performance, and pedagogy. At the core of my practice, I create socially engaged and materially rich projects in an 'art world' environment that are available and accessible for those who are disenfranchised, particularly for dispossessed immigrants of color.

I confront social and racial injustices against the disenfranchised and riff off of official institutions and bureaucratic processes to reimagine new, inclusive, and humanized systems of civic engagement and belonging. I do this by creating participatory and active environments where safety, play, and skill-sharing are emphasized.

Mary Leipziger

And even though many of my projects are collaborative and communal in nature, they incite and highlight individual's experiences, politics, and voice. Much of my communal work revolves around sharing skills as a point of connection. We share sewing techniques, to create multiethnic and intergenerational sewing circles, which become a place for empowerment, subversion, and protest.

-Aram Han Sifuentes