2018-2019

Digital Photography / Installation

Home is not a place, it’s a feeling. While the concept of home traditionally refers to the place where one lives, there are cultural and spiritual parts of ourselves that cultivate the essence of home. Born and raised in San Diego, driving distance from the San Ysidro border, Javier’s frequent visits to Tijuana helped her to recognize her own binational experience as a Filipina-American. She believes that the barriers that separate families, both physical and invisible, deeply impact the framework of who we are, how we live and the life choices that families make for each other. Her work explores the psychological toll of separation, effects of cultural disconnect and visceral connection to land. Here Javier shares a glimpse of the Philippines, in San Ysidro parallel to the Tijuana border, in a space between that she calls home.