“Do You Have Papers?” laments those loved and overlooked by systems that fail to value them as people through tactile practices such as collecting and mixed-media craft. The title recalls a dehumanizing question that reduces a person’s worth to their citizenship status. Driven by a scarcity mindset and concern for those at risk of deportation, the work deconstructs accumulative notes, documents, household items, used clothing, and sentimental keepsakes, repurposing them into materially rich collages and sculptures. This exhibition invites viewers to confront the detritus that makes up human existence. It seeks to memorialize the home and the immigrant experience through mechanisms akin to “immigrant clutter,” a habit of hoarding while preserving collective history. Like those who surround themselves with the remembrances of their homeland and those who use what they have at hand to minimize waste, this archive is a container of devotion and evidence of resilience.
Madelline Vicencio was born and raised in Texas as a collector of trash and memorabilia. She earned her BFA in Painting from the University of Houston in 2021 and resides in Houston, where she has exhibited locally at B Space Art House, Hardy and Nance Studios, MECA Houston, the Czech Center Museum, Anya Tish Gallery, the Kinder Morgan Building, and at BOX 13 Artspace, as well as internationally in Mexico City and São Paulo. Vicencio experiments with craft and sentimental objects, an approach that emerged fully during residencies from 2021-2023 in Oaxaca and Mexico City, where she is rediscovering the value of tradition and ancestral ties.
Website: mvicencio.com
Instagram: @madellinevice
