BALLOONS ON THE CEILING AFTER  
THE APARTMENT WEDDING IN RESEDA


     While creating Balloons on the Ceiling After the Apartment Wedding in Reseda, I was drawn to the reflections in my dining room, particularly the long mirror behind the table. The work is a fragment of a photograph from my parents’ apartment wedding in 2003. Rather than focusing on the event itself, the picture shifts attention to the aftermath—the lingering remnants of the party. The balloons hang from the ceiling and, over time, gradually descend, coming closer to eye level. As they lower, they signal the need to discard them, marking the end of celebration.
      This work is long, spanning 8 feet, and it stays in your periphery when you walk along it, inviting subtle play as you can catch glimpses of your reflection through the dancing stars scattered across the surface. Another leading layer is a scanned portion of my father’s Spanish-English book. The words “become” and “leave” in their current and past tense, accompanied by my father’s penmanship as he practiced the language “Become” is a signifier of growth and integration. The continuous growth of experiences as “leave” speaks to the ephemeral nature of moments. Together, they are a cycle and a part of releasing the past.