Art: “Fight For Change” by Diana De Loera
DIANA DE LOERA
Artist Statement
My mom told me a story about when she was young. She looked up toward the sky and it was full of orange and black. There were thousands and thousands of monarch butterflies. They typically migrate from the U.S. to Mexico once they have transformed from a caterpillar into a butterfly. They travel thousands of miles, laying their eggs for future generations.
My mom described how beautiful it was, and how every year she would see them. She asked me, “Have you seen one here? I don’t think I have. I don’t think they have them here.” I thought about it, unsure if I had. I wondered and wondered, until I remembered.
“Right,” I told myself. She had immigrated here.
In that moment, I realized how much she had sacrificed. Losing that beautiful world, full of life, family, and everything familiar to her. All of it left behind for this country—the United States of America.
The more time that passes, the more I think about how many things my mom has given up to be in this country. A country that was founded on colonialism. A country founded by slave owners. A country that expanded further and further, driving away the Native people who lived here, even though they had shown kindness.
The atrocities that happened simply because their pale, “fair” skin wasn’t like the rough and dark skin of the people already here. People like me. People like my family and community were seen as savages throughout history. They are still seen that way.
This isn’t just something in the past. The uncomfortable truth is that this still happens. Whether you choose to see it or not, whether you choose to act or not. This government has hurt my community by sending people to detention centers with poor conditions and treating them like animals and criminals, even though this country was built on their backs.
My art piece symbolizes the divide between the government and immigrant communities. The side on the right is purposefully filled with right-wing beliefs. Figures like Trump and Elon Musk have intensified and perpetuated these prejudices against my hardworking community, with laws and messaging that target immigrants.
I also drew people who have historically caused harm, such as the Spanish colonizers who killed many of the Native Americans who lived here before them. Hitler is drawn as well because of the rhetoric that mirrors harmful ideologies and the treatment of people seen as “other.” He sent Jewish people to concentration camps under terrible conditions. Today, immigrants in this country are being detained in similarly harsh environments. In both cases, people were treated as less than human.
If this feels intense, it’s because it is. I wanted to show that history can repeat itself, because this is the reality many communities still face today.
But I also wanted to show the people who have risen up and fought against these challenges. The people working to create the change we want to see. I drew my community—the people who protested, the families affected by ICE and government actions.
I symbolized immigration by drawing the monarch butterfly, representing both migration and transformation. I included the American flag and the Mexican flag together to show that this country is made up of many different people, and to highlight how people here have also supported immigrant communities in rising up.
I added light to the left side to highlight my community and their resilience. I didn’t want to focus only on struggle, but also on how we continue to rise through it. I want to show the beauty in that strength.
Like a monarch butterfly, we can emerge from our cocoons and rise toward a better future.
