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Stephanie Syjuco, “Portrait of N,” archival pigment print, 2017
In collaboration as a subject figure
Behind the panel, a photographic portrait depicts a female figure under a semi-sheer checkered cloth, obscuring identifying features yet presenting an individual. The printed pattern of the fabric makes tangible Photoshop’s grey and white transparency background, translating a digital tool into a material experience. An undocumented individual who received her college education through DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), the subject's status in the United States is now potentially under threat. Under protective anonymity, the former students claim a presence where their individual identities must be absent, occupying a tenuous space between invisibility and visibility.
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