Photo Credits: Juan Garcia
The artwork is composed of fifteen linocut prints paralleling the Stations of the Cross in the Catholic tradition. The main character is always Jesus; however, Jesus is depicted as the monarch butterfly while the monarch butterfly simultaneously depicts the immigrant body, often pushed to the margins of society.
The Monarch butterfly has been used as a symbol of resilience for immigrants in the U.S because of the multi-generational journey it embarks every year. See, in its innate migration patterns, the monarch butterfly is free to fly from the northern reaches of the US and Canada feeding on the native milkweed plants to flying back south to México escaping the cold winters.
The butterfly like the immigrant crossing the border, has to survive a journey for their future generations. Each station represents an aspect of the journey in which the migrant crossing the border lives. While no two border crossing stories are the same, in every story there are similarities: struggle, faith, survival, accompaniment and miracles.
View full Magazine at https://issuu.com/omcdom/docs/dominican_magazine_spring2020/14
The Passion of the Monarca Migrante II, 2019 at Santa Maria de la Vid Abbey Chapel, Albuquerque, NM
Credito: Pastoral Migratoria- Arquidiocesis de Chicago
Glimpse of the explanation at marker 1 hour:10 minutes:20seconds)
