The Memory Of Our Skin is a long-term photography project that bridges two distinct communities, the neighborhoods of Santiago, Chile, and a Bay Area peninsula town, Half Moon Bay, by visually exploring their humanistic responses to traumatic events, and the shared processes of grief and healing.
The Memory Of Our Skin is the first iteration from a body of work that started in 2017. This project examines the complexities of my family’s homeland: Chile. Oftentimes, as a first generation Chilean-American, I grapple with parts of my identity that are separated by distance. Initially, I started traveling to Chile to learn more about my personal history–it’s where I met my father for the first time at 23 years old. But as time progressed, this project evolved into a compilation of experiences that document stories of trauma, pain, grief, and healing. Many Chileans still grapple with the violent past brought on by the United States funded dictatorship (1973-1990).
Part of my duality as a first generation American, is having a connection with two countries. Living in the United States for almost my entire life has informed my view on how this country collectively experiences and undertakes scarring events. There is a different pace of trauma that doesn't get fully processed. One tragic event leads to another. In recent times, our Latino communities have had to confront the aftermaths of gun violence across the country like the Cielo Vista Walmart mass shooting that killed 23 people in El Paso, Texas, the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and eight months later, a mass shooting in Half Moon Bay, the small farming Peninsula town just south from San Francisco, where I have been documenting the aftermath.
In a sense, the collective mourning process within Chilean society – 50 years removed from the coup – feels like a glimpse into our future of how our communities are able to sustain their healing process. This project also pays tribute to California’s forgotten history of the lynchings of Latinos and Native Americans (1849-1928) without any memorials referenced throughout the centuries.
The Memory Of Our Skin is a reminder that our histories are not only from our past, but they are lived within ourselves. Our memories are an act of remembering, we can find fragments in vigils, protests, community, art, music, gardening, and the creation of memorials that make space to heal.
Artist Statement - Pablo Unzueta, 2024