DESIERTO DE LAGRIMAS
2019

Claudia Patricia Gómez Gonzalez was murdered in Rio Bravo TX,  on May 23 2018 by a border patrol agent with a bullet to the head. She was 20 years old. Her death remains unpunished. She risked her life and left her Mayan community in Guatemala to seek an education and employment in the United States to support her family. As her body was returned to Guatemala to be buried, border communities held vigils in her honor to celebrate her life and bravery.

 

Our collective mourning cannot truly begin until the violence stops. A recognition of Memory Truth and Justice cannot begin until we seize the systems of Persecution, Detainment, Disappearance, and Impunity.

 

This durational public performance took place on the anniversary of Claudia Patricia's murder. While reading a list of 89 names of adults and children who have died under US Government custody since 2010,  the artist stands on the street and weeps uncontrollably while free-bleeding. The artist continues publicly mourning for 30 minutes, compulsively sobbing while pushing her body beyond its physical and emotional limits. Post-performance, the artist experienced a deeply challenging process of physical and psychological healing as her eyes sustained deep wounds that resulted from having rubbed off the live flesh from her skin during the performance.