Jonathan Christensen Caballero

Artist Statement

The personal is political and I feel a moral imperative to create art that critiques the oppression of Latin American laborers in the United States. My art is based on my personal identity growing up with parents who supported our family through labor jobs and my mother who is a Central American immigrant. My figures give representation to people who contribute to society at the cost of their physical bodies. For this reason, my sculpture is rooted in Latin American identity and socio-economic status. My artwork is able to narrate enduring questions of identity through the use of the human figure, pre-Columbian iconography, and mixed media sculpture. The figurative sculpture I make is driven by questions of inclusion vs exclusion. Who benefits from the American dream? Who is allowed representation, visibility and to feel a sense of belonging? Why is the Latin American community forced to remain invisible and to always be perceived as the outsider? My figurative sculpture critiques the oppression of Latin American laborers in this country and advocates for my community's representation by revealing both the plight of the proletariat as well as the resilience of immigrants.

-- Jonathan Christensen Caballero

Bio

Jonathan Christensen Caballero is an interdisciplinary artist born and raised in Utah. He graduated from Indiana University with his MFA, with an emphasis in ceramics, in Spring 2020. He has exhibited nationally and internationally in venues such as the Clay Center of New Orleans in Louisiana, Standard Ceramic Supply in Pennsylvania, Carbondale Clay Center in Colorado, and Tsukuba Museum of Art in Japan. His work focuses on the human figure and advocates for the Latin American labor community.