indoor house paint, beads, black skulls, colorful crosses, on sailcloth; 2012. Courtesy of the artist.
COLLAGE ON VIEW
maryhope|whitehead|lee: Deadly Crossing
at Casa Caracols’ Raiz Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
12 December 2025-31 January 2026
“Deadly Crossing” by maryhope|whitehead|lee is a response to militarization of the Sonoran/Arizona Borderlands and the dehumanization and criminalization of migrants. It includes poems, collage art, and needle work. The poems (PhotoPoems) are superimposed over photographs of the wall and Sonoran Desert. The collages have been transferred to pañuelos (handkerchiefs). The use of Pañuelos is inspired by the Fuentes Rojas movement in Coyoacán, Mexico where people gather in community every Sunday and embroider pañuelos that name and commemorate the lives of the kidnapped, murdered, and disappeared. Details of the violence are embroidered in red floss on white handkerchiefs which also include the name of the person who embroidered the information and the record number of the police report.
analog paper collage transfer on pañuelo; 2025. Courtesy of the artist.
maryhope|whitehead|lee writes, “The deaths and disappearances continue to mount. ‘Deadly Crossing’ is an expression of my personal grief and, hopefully, a catalyst for empathy and compassion in others.*
“I hope the community will leave this installation unable to ‘unsee’.”
This project was made possible in part by an Artist to Work Grant from the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture.
(text adapted from material provided by the artist)
INFORMATION
La Luz Casa Caracols’ Raiz Gallery
906 West Roosevelt Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85007 USA
(602) 595-9600
Hours:
Sunday, 9AM-2PM
Monday, 9AM-6PM
Thursday-Saturday, 9AM-6PM