2025 - Life in Death Group Exhibition

Winchester-Dondera Cultural Center

Canto de Cempasúchil is a tribute to my grandfather, who passed away from COVID-19 on October 15, 2020, my birthday. That same day, his favorite rosoter passed away. I couldn’t attend his funeral due to the chaos of the pandemic, and this artwork became my way of honoring him, of keeping his memory alive even when distance kept me apart.

This piece is rooted in the spirit of Día de los Muertos, a tradition where we create altars, offer marigolds, and light candles so our loved ones may find their way back to us. For immigrants, however, grief carries a different weight. 

When someone passes away in our home country, and we can’t return, we don’t just lose them; we lose the rituals, the final embraces, the comfort of gathering in community to say goodbye. Mourning becomes something carried quietly, across borders, often without space for ceremony.

The rooster, adorned with roses, sunflowers, and framed by golden marigolds, becomes both altar and offering. Its colors and alebrije form point to the mystical: a guide between worlds, a messenger reminding us that love transcends separation. The marigolds symbolize memory and light, a bouquet that could not be placed in person but blooms here in eternal tribute.