“We moved from Argentina to Miami, Florida, when I was four years old. My mother had been a nurse and my father a bus driver, but those types of jobs in the U.S. were not accessible, so they both did manual labor. My father worked in the fields in Florida for a week until the labor was too harsh for him; he washed dishes, and then found a job as a mechanic’s assistant. My mother cleaned people’s houses for over 14 years. When I was in elementary school, she took the bus to my school and volunteered in my classroom about three days a week. I was so young that I didn't realize it at the time, but doing that was a huge sacrifice for her; between walking to the bus stop and the actual ride, it took her three hours just to get there. She didn’t speak English, but she helped with math and other things, and all the kids loved her. They called her ‘Mom.’
“Later, when I was in middle and high school, she picked me up after cleaning houses all day, and I remember how tired she always was. I could see the pain in her whole body, but especially in her hands. Her hands were strong but so fragile at the same time. The drawings I did for the 2015 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards were based on my mother. She was the closest person to me, and I saw her weariness every day. No matter how tired she was, though, she still cooked dinner and ran the household, volunteered on several boards and worked as a community organizer. My mom represents so many women who have sacrificed for their families, especially those who have emigrated from other countries. Their work is often behind the scenes, hidden, and I wanted to bring it out and highlight such tremendous strength and tenacity.
"I’m working on a double major at Rhodes now, Art and Urban Studies. I’m passionate about using my voice and my art to address social justice issues, particularly those of immigrants.”
“Later, when I was in middle and high school, she picked me up after cleaning houses all day, and I remember how tired she always was. I could see the pain in her whole body, but especially in her hands. Her hands were strong but so fragile at the same time. The drawings I did for the 2015 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards were based on my mother. She was the closest person to me, and I saw her weariness every day. No matter how tired she was, though, she still cooked dinner and ran the household, volunteered on several boards and worked as a community organizer. My mom represents so many women who have sacrificed for their families, especially those who have emigrated from other countries. Their work is often behind the scenes, hidden, and I wanted to bring it out and highlight such tremendous strength and tenacity.
"I’m working on a double major at Rhodes now, Art and Urban Studies. I’m passionate about using my voice and my art to address social justice issues, particularly those of immigrants.”
Aylen Mercado’s parents now work full-time for Workers' Dignity/Dignidad Obrera, a non-profit based in Nashville. Aylen herself is very active in the Memphis community, serving on boards and steering committees for such organizations as Centro Cultural (also on FB) and the Student/Farmworker Alliance. She graduated from White Station High School in May 2015 and received a full ride to Rhodes College. She is one of the National 2015 Scholastic Art & Writing Award Winners (chosen from a field of 300,000 students) and one of only 16 students nationwide to receive the program’s prestigious 2015 Portfolio Gold Medal Award. In addition to her studies, she teaches at Centro Cultural and feels strongly about helping Latino youth reconnect with their culture and heritage through the arts.
From Aylen's series of drawings based on her mother:
- 98.4 New Mix FM: Aylen Mercado Wins National Art Award
- http://www.sfalliance.org/aylen/
- http://blog.artandwriting.org/2015/06/03/eyes-on-the-prize-trace-depass-and-aylen-mercado/
Bio from the Just City's SeekJustice art show:
Aylen Mercado was born in Argentina in 1997. Mercado works predominantly in digital photography as a freelance photographer for local non-profit organizations. Her background in darkroom photography influenced her technique in her drawings of white medium on black surfaces. Mercado utilizes creativity as a tool for social change. She incorporates her art in her collaborative work across social justice movements to raise awareness of oppression, inequalities and injustice.
She has had her work featured in New York at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, and in Washington, DC at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building and the U.S. Capitol. Her work has recently been selected for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards' Art.Write.Now.Tour 2015-16, a national traveling exhibition curated, produced, and presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. Mercado's work will be featured in St. Petersburg, FL, Indianapolis, IN, Vermillion, SD, and Las Vegas, NV.
She is a Clarence Day Scholar at Rhodes College majoring in Urban Studies and Art. She lives in, works in, and loves Memphis.
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