Erika Niko Barrios
familia(r/l)
January 20 - Febuary 24, 2018on the edge of sleep lies visions of both warmth and brittle vulnerability.
filtered residual memory
resurfaces and undulates,
echoing a genealogy of
coercively disguised identities.
endless giving.
(his) cup runneth over.
silencing resigns itself to nonsensical ritual.
midnight howls.
deep forest hibernation.
self-effacing merging through pain
as an act of present-ness.
itching subconscious creature comforts,
or at least deluding oneself to see
familiar (familial) sacrifice in this way.
not left to a silence that remembers.
Erika Niko Barrios is a second-generation Salvadoran/Guatemalan American artist born and raised in Southern California. Their work draws from personal narrative and family history, guided in part by their interest in intersectional feminism, queer and critical race theory, and mental health discourses. In 2011, they received their B.A. in Gender & Women’s Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. They are currently completing their MFA in Sculpture/4D at California State University, Long Beach.
