Abstracts Maps and Languages
This embroidery is part of Paternal / Paternal a collection of embroideries that celebrates the places where my family has migrated, the languages related to these locations, and the memory that has passed through generations. This embroidery involves mapping by using the latitude and longitude of these locations.
This embroidery was made by hand and by a sewing machine. The lips correspond to the movement of the mouth saying the word 'paternal' in Spanish, 'paternal'. Each set of lips in the embroidery represents one syllable of that word. The lips on the bottom of the piece correspond to the latitude and longitude of Bogotá, Colombia. The lips on the top correspond to the latitude and longitude of Nemocón, Colombia. These sets of lips map my family’s migration on my dad’s side from Nemocón to Bogotá: my great-grandfather and my grandfather were from Nemocón, a town known for its Salt Mine and trains, and my dad from the center of the country and capital Bogotá, Colombia. The locations of these places are represented by the location of each set of lips on the embroidery. The lines in the fabric act as a trace of the distance and time of our journeys. The title Neh-moh-kon-ee-Boh-goh-ta is spelled phonetically as it’s pronounced in Spanish so that English speakers can pronounce it perfectly.