Araceli Zuniga Egg Tooth

Our promise for a future feels threatened. The inclination towards self reflection has turned to rumination. Optimism is now a fantasy. During periods of instability, I seek out second chances and wonder if another world is possible. Childhood is a time in our lives where world building is instinctive. Freedom is understood as a birthright. In the same vein, through the maturation process, birds go from fledge to flight. Both are studies in becoming: the awkward, tender, sometimes unruly process of growing into oneself. Somewhere between these gestures a power shift happens. Tucked beneath these moments of vulnerability are glimmers of strength. Egg Tooth denotes nostalgia as a reclamation of agency. Whether through leaps of faith, self awareness, or rebellion, retributions must be made. This is important given the urgency in negotiating our own cultural moment as we watch and participate in the global waves of social unrest marked both by promise and precarity, hope and indignity. Ultimately, my intention is to confront the ways oppression has bled into national identity and defy its imposed limitations.