Visions From The Inside (2): Torrico

Artist statement: “I was introduced to this mother’s story through a letter and three drawings she had made of young children. One of the drawings read “Happy Mother’s Day” and had a mother clutching a small baby to her chest with lilies in the background. As I read her letter explaining her twisted, torturous nightmare, I kept thinking about the baby in the drawing, the heartache and desperation of being torn from your children and family for a loitering charge, the trauma of being dehumanized and broken by a system that does not want you here, and trying to survive the days by just holding on to memories of a past that already seems so far away. This is what’s happening. This is her reality and the reality of so many other women and mothers in detention. As an undocumented artist, to have had the privilege of working on this piece and sharing this mother’s story is something I truly will not forget.” -Rommy Torrico