The Bronx Museum

Formally trained as a painter, Blanka Amezkua’s multidisciplinary practice employs techniques often considered traditional or domestic – primarily embroidery and crochet – to address timely cultural, political, and gender issues. Her current body of work explores the expanded possibilities of papel picado the paper-cutting tradition of her native Mexico. Crafted from handmade confetti, tissue paper, and quilling papers, the pieces featured in My Home Has Wings / Mi Casa Tiene Alas merge Amezkua’s training in painting with folk art traditions to create large-scale compositions that reproduce iconic landmarks, municipal seals, and agricultural goods that trace her passage across the U.S. – from California’s Central Valley to Buffalo, New York – as the child of migrant farm workers. Developed in collaboration with Puebla-based artisan Rene Mendoza, the work highlighted in My Home Has Wings provides testament to the fortitude of America’s migrant communities.