Nomadic Identity and Socio-Political Expression in Clay

Salvador Jiminéz-Flores, born and raised in Jalisco, Mexico, describes himself as an interdisciplinary artist whose nomadic existence traces his journeys through the Americas. He creates rasquache and high art, speaking Español, English, and Spanglish. The impacts of relocation from a rural town in Mexico to a major metropolis in the United States continue to resonate through his life and work as he documents the experiences of adaptation while looking back at what was left behind. The work’s content is socio-political exploring themes of colonization, migration, cultural appropriation, stereotypes, and the other. The challenge of being bicultural and bilingual is that Jiminéz Flores lives concurrently in two different worlds. Learning to adapt and live in these two worlds involves expanding and losing part of who we are, so often one finds oneself in the middle of these two territories. Everywhere one lives, one is a foreigner. The interdisciplinary approach of work requires the artist to select the media that will best matches the idea to be conveyed and reflect the responsibility to address the issues that affect one's community, create awareness, and propose actions through art.