The Environment in Latin America

Ecology, Art, and Home

Growing up in the Argentine Pampas gave me a great appreciation for even the simplest materials. As a little girl, I would sit in the dirt of the sun-scorched patio and admire the plain dirt; I would observe black ants and brown beetles crawl, and I would be filled with awe. These common things were my world; I could relate to them. But then I moved to the United States and was faced with an unsettling sense of "not-belonging." The cities were different, the people were different, the weather was different.

I was very homesick--until I looked down and realized that the natural world was very familiar. There was plain old dirt again, and the leaves were similar. I collected and filled my college studio with these well-known colors and textures and was able to feel home again. That was eight years ago. I still gather avidly. I still feel uprooted if I don't.