Story

It’s the way we blister in the sun. The way we are born with a back destined for premature breaking as it dampens, like a will from our fathers. The way we initiate the ritual of bloodshed, in order to partake in a chosen family. But most importantly, the way we congregate towards labor and tradition. Traditions that restructure themselves as a snare. We seem to forcibly migrate into detrimental industries by the hundreds of thousands. We spill our teeth over our subhuman occupations during the heat of the summer, and even our blood – it gets misplaced with a type of sticky tar. I question how trauma becomes a routine in our daily lives, and how we eventually culminate towards the invisible. Neglected, and left behind in the pocket linings of others. I have witnessed how marginalized people become mistaken for animals. How immigrants are herded into industries to promote stability for American society. 

Growing up in East Los Angeles, we get our nutrients from the corners. East Los Angeles is where my unnamed neighbors sit next to me on the public buses and crowded mercados. It’s where artisan hand painted eyebrows became a fad and rosaries dangle from our throats. Where frightening gunshots get mistaken for fluorescent firecrackers, and add warmth to our atmosphere.  The concrete is meticulously  tattooed with graffiti, so pure, however its expression is often misunderstood. Our sweat drips and pools around our ankles, as our labor becomes someone else's commodity. The community I was raised in, it places me under its tongue, and I’m absorbed into its gums. It’s dangerous.

I come to realize how my Chicano identity and Latino background has become the originating genes to my body of art work and craft. The working class family and community I was born into, aided in my drive for innovation and lust for “honest art” which to me, is realistic, relatable commentary on underprivileged lives. I come from a culture of people you never see featured in popular magazines, or media. Our lifestyle is evident and purely valid, however I continue to find our narratives of our existence to be misconstrued. I want to showcase truth, and honesty. This is the significance and integrity I wish to provide through destacarse. and through my apparel and textile work.

With immense curiosity, I hand pattern, construct, and produce each abstract garment and artwork with both integrity and curiosity. Through my theoretical work, my designs and art making is where I am able to show my practices and provide my social commentary. 

 

With great curiosity,

Rene Camarillo