Revealing Self: Patricia Bordallo Dibildox’s Poetic Objects of Identity

To acknowledge intellectually that one’s identity is fluid and intersectional is one endeavor; to

make this visible through physical objects is another challenge altogether. Yet,this is the aim

of Patricia Bordallo Dibildox’s practice; a personal and introspective journey through her

experience as a Mexican artist and person of color in the United States. Though only at the

beginning of her career, the artist has already developed a habit of reflecting upon earlier

moments in her work and expanding upon them in new ways. Dibildox stops short of full

nostalgia, instead recognizing the personal growth and wisdom that she has cultivated in a

short period of time. Says the artist,

“My work is a conversation between myself now and myselves throughout the fifteen years

that I have lived in the United States. I focus on the way in which the inescapable whiteness

around me and the predominantly white institutions that shaped my thinking have crippled

my existence as a woman of color.”

Dibildox creates photographs, video and textiles that place heavy emphasis on linguistics

and an an expansive notion of cultural and dialectical translation. The artist moved to Kansas

City from Mexico at age 8, and more recently realized the vocabulary to describe the

codeswitching and assimilation techniques universal to the immigrant experience in the

United States. These epiphanies inform her work, though she admits that the process of

reconciling her birthplace and contemporary context is ongoing. Dibildox recalls reckoning

with Latinx identity during art school, and collaborating with a Mexican-American artist on a

publication for her senior thesis. Although she admired her collaborator’s work greatly,

ultimately she came to recognize the singularity of her experience and felt frustrated. “It

wasn’t the work I wanted to make,” the artist tells me.

Patricia Bordallo Dibildox – Goddess 2016. Image Courtesy of the Artist.

After experimenting with iconography readily associated with Mexican culture, Dibildox has

shifted her practice towards creating objects that consider how identity is formed in relation

to context and surroundings. The artist describes grappling with the sharp contrast between

her childhood in Mexico and the rest of her life in a predominantly white suburb of Kansas

City. In I know what I want, I want what I know (2017), Dibildox places the titular text on white

vinyl globeros, or balloons, similar to toys she encountered as a child in Mexico. The objects

marketed to her growing up featured Mickey Mouse and other American cultural icons,

fostering what Dibildox calls “a never-ending desire for whiteness.” Though the artist became

critically conscious as a young adult, she laments the internalized racism and white

supremacy she sees other immigrants struggle with, including members of her own family.

Patricia Bordallo Dibildox – Untitled, 2016 Image

Courtesy of the Artist

Dibildox’s recent work has combined writing with abstracted self-representation. She has

generated tonal images by scanning her skin and averaging out the pixels, which are then printed

on fabric. On top of the skin colored impression are the words “Tu eres mi pan de Dios; tu eres mi

hola y mi adios” (“You are my bread of God; you are my hello and my goodbye”). Though the

juxtaposition of the flesh with religious references has clear allusions to Christianity (biblically

Jesus is often referred to as the Bread of Life), the poetic wording is drawn from the artist’s

partner and her family. She recalls hearing it said by her grandmother, who used the expression

when referring to someone for whom she was grateful, and found to be benevolent and kind. For

Dibildox, this person is her own partner, and the work becomes an homage to him. Though she

feels that her identity is scrutinized by others because she is part of an interracial couple, her work

defies outside tendencies to essentialize or stereotype. Rather, Dibildox’s works ultimately

make the case that identity is not inherent, but instead a cultivated accumulation of

experiences, relationships, and contexts.

Patricia Bordallo Dibildox – Untitled, 2016 Image

Courtesy of the Artist

This essay is part of a series commissioned, in collaboration with Informality Blog, for the

exhibition Against the Screen at La Esquina Gallery (1000 W 25 Street KCMO) open

from August 25 through October 7, 2017. These pieces, co-edited by Melaney Mitchell

(Founder & Senior Editor of Informality Blog) and Lynnette Miranda (Curator-in-Residence at

Charlotte Street Foundation) focus on a shared goal of bringing the eyes of national writers

to the work of Kansas City-based artists.