Many of us are familiar with the pain that comes with having a loved one taken away. Whether that's by distance or death, by force or a painful choice, it's a grief that's hard to describe. For Detroit artist Julianna Sanromán, that loss has shaped much of her life—as well as the ethereal, otherworldly feeling of her artwork.
When she was seven years old, Sanromán's parents were deported to Mexico. Sanromán remained with family in Detroit while her twin sister stayed with their parents in Mexico. It was a world-shattering moment for her as a young child. As she got older, she began to express the pain she was feeling over the separation from her family in art.
"I struggled a lot with...truly not feeling the will to live as a child without them for years. And my mom always ends every phone call that someone is waiting for me to come home. That someone is always waiting for me to come home."
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In the exhibition for her senior thesis, Sanromán wrote those words from her mother around the frame of one of her paintings. The artist works mostly in Metro Detroit these days, but sometimes visits her family in Jalisco, Mexico. She said that much of her work is also about memorializing the memories she does have of spending time with her family.
"I write a lot with my work, so at times I just try to make a list of things that I could remember, like my dad's whistles, or like the songs he'd sing to me, or certain details of how the house would still smell because my mom collected apple cinnamon candles."
Sanromán's debut solo exhibition is on view now through November 9 at Playground Detroit. It is titled What Lived And Died Between us Haunts Me. She'll be having an artist talk about the exhibit this Saturday, Oct. 26 at 2:00pm.
Hear the full conversation with Julianna Sanromán and April Baer on the Stateside podcast above.
