Growing up in America, we in the lgbtqia community had to alter the media fed to us to make it relatable to our lives, more so if you were of color. Movies, tv shows, books, religions and cultural norms have told us the stories of men and women getting married, settling down, having children and retiring. Many find these tropes aspirational yet they were never created with us in mind. Amurqa is a series of work exploring the lives of people who live within the rainbow & choices they made because or in spite of “the American dream”. AMURQA started in 2014 with the sculptural work of a very talented artist and friend Maxine Blomberg. I have a complicated relationship with the visual representation of America which is probably why i'm so drawn to it in my art. Having it juxtaposed in the form of a burqa to produce these multitude of feelings is exactly where i want my audience to be when they look at the rest of the imagery. There is also a lack of inferred information from the subject, so the viewer must decide how to process what they are looking at on their own. Does wearing the Amurqa bring them comfort or distress; is it a warming hug on an oppressive shell?