I am honored to announce my work has been accepted into a second public collection, The Arizona History Museum in Tucson. Every year, a memory quilt is made to honor the immigrants who died crossing the border in the Tucson Sector. Clothing is collected from the desert, washed, and given to a quilter. The names of the identified are embroidered on the front, but those are are not identified are given the label “Desconocido”. This project weighed heavy on my heart. It was important to honor them with something beautiful and unique, that would bring comfort to their families if it is ever seen by them. More info can be found here.
“Cempasúchiles”
Melissa Bauer
Clothing, cotton fabric, and dye
75 inches by 64 inches
2023
My artwork is a reflection of my interest in historical research and the American landscape. The landscape addressed by this quilt is the Tucson Border Patrol sector, which covers 262 border miles in southern Arizona, separating Mexico from the United States. The work honors the lives of the people who died crossing this border in the 2022 fiscal year. These people were lost to hyperthermia, blunt force trauma, sharp force injuries, heat exposure, traumatic asphyxia, and multiple gunshot wounds. Their violent and unnecessary deaths must not define their lives, each name on this quilt was a beloved family member who is deeply missed by their community. This work calls viewers together to mark, mourn, and remember the tragic and unnecessary loss of life that occurs year after year along this man-made border.
“Cempasúchiles” is a three layer textile work, referencing the three deaths of Mexican custom. The first layer is the dark blue traditional quilt, constructed in a traditional manner from a historic quilt block pattern called “The Road to California”, which was first published around 1890. Sewn with clothing left by migrants as they crossed the Tucson sector, it depicts the “first death”: when the body ceases to function. The second layer, representing “the second death”: when the body is buried, references a popular applique pattern of flowers and leaves from the 1850s. The cempasúchil (the Aztec Marigold) flowers depicted in this layer are traditionally used to celebrate life and lead souls from their burial places back to their family homes. The third layer of the quilt is the embroidered names of the people who lost their lives crossing the border between October 2021 and September 2022, with “Desconocido” standing in for the 106 people who remain unidentified. This final layer subverts the “third death”: the moment when a person is remembered for the last time. Each leaf ensures these brave people will never be forgetten.
The shoe covers displayed with this quilt were also found in the Tucson sector desert. Their ingenious design speaks to how loved the wearer was. A soft carpet sole dampens footprints and the sound of footsteps. The Velcro fasteners on the back allowed the wearer to quickly slip them over their own shoes. The tie on the top ensures they stay on, aiding the wearer in their mission to start a new life. Displaying the shoe covers next to the quilt is meant to evoke the familiar, homey scene of slippers next to a bed: something that you might see every day without thought that nevertheless conveys warmth and comfort. They too have the cempasúchilflower imagery to help bring the wearer’s soul home to their loved ones.