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Forastera sin planeta [Foreigner without a planet]
Forastera sin planeta [Foreigner without a planet]

Forastera sin planeta [Foreigner without a planet]

Primary (Valparaíso, Chile, 1953–Boerne, Texas, present)
Date2019
MediumColored pencil, ink, and acrylic on paper
Dimensions30 x 30 in.
Credit LineBlanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Gilberto Cárdenas Collection, Museum Acquisition Fund, 2022.255
Rights Statement
Collection AreaPrints and Drawings
Object number2022.255
On View
Not on view
Label Text
In this subdued scene, Liliana Wilson captures the uncertainty and melancholia surrounding the immigrant experience. Wilson uses cherubic figures to explore recurring themes of displacement in her work, recalling her perilous experience fleeing Chile in the 1970s during that country’s military dictatorship. The scene depicts the journey of a solitary, innocent girl, equipped with only a staff and her owl companion for guidance. The spectral and eerie imagery mirrors the unsettling, potential perils of treks across strange waterways. The artist highlights the dangers for women and girls in particular as they flee their homes for distant, supposedly safer lands. Wilson underscores the macabre realities of immigration with embroidered skulls on the figure’s dress representing the tragic souls that have been lost along the way. 
Exhibitions