El Tianguis

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Original Artwork. Captured during a spontaneous visit to a flea market in Mexico City, this photograph has been transferred onto rusted sheets of corrugated steel, depicting a lively scene of shoppers engaging with artisans. The hasty composition, with its blurred upper half and sharply focused foreground, reflects the vibrant yet chaotic nature of such markets. The vibrant colors have dulled slightly through the transfer onto the steel, lending the piece a sense of wear, age and foggy recollection. Flea markets have become significant to my family’s visits to Mexico, offering a space to reclaim fragments of our heritage—objects that serve as tangible reminders of our roots once we return to Canada. Yet, as these cultural environments increasingly cater to tourists, I’ve come to realize that I, too, have become a visitor in my own homeland. Exploring the intersection of nostalgia and belonging, I question what it means to engage with a cultural space as both an insider and an outsider.

Where it's been: Patel Brown, OCAD GradEx 109, Abbozzo Gallery