SHIFT, (2023-24, video of non-indigenous plants and animals from Houston bayous, vinyl decal, approx. 108” x 12” x 108”), was a multi-media installation, contrasting videos of bayou nature with a compendium of rhetorical expressions regarding non-human species. The work alludes to the contradictory similes’ and the conflation of lexicons that shape and define the human versus non-human species migration. On one hand is our predisposition to use language to de-humanize our fellow species, while the other is the affinity to personify the natural world with human qualities. Questions remain whether new universal frameworks can guide our aspirations for all of earth’s inhabitants to have the right to flourish, fulfill life’s potential and exist in dignity with other species. SHIFT underscores the anthropomorphic lens and vernacular, while it identifies metaphoric parallels between discoveries in the microscopic world and with our contemporary notions of eco-system transformations.

SHIFT, was included in the exhibition “Climate Migrations: Displacements, Travel, Home”, curated by the Houston Climate Justice Museum starting September 28, 2023 till August 30, 2024 at the POST.