Portrait of a woman from a developing nation. Portrait of a Peruvian woman. Portrait of a woman who cannot visit her daughter without a visa.

Zully Mejía was born in Peru before migrating to the U.S. as a child. She is currently based in the United Kingdom, a situation that has put a bureaucratic barrier between herself and her mother. Confronted by the emotional stress of separation, Mejía adopted her art practice to incorporate a “coping strategy.”

She explains: “This work reflects on challenges that my family is facing due to the travel restrictions imposed on individuals from developing nations. Being Peruvian, my mother is not permitted to enter or transit through the U.K., where I immigrated to pursue an MFA, unless she undergoes a rigorous visa acquisition process. The piece acts both as a political statement born of frustration with a bureaucratic and discriminatory policy and an expression of deep love and sadness. The jacket itself was once my mother’s. It is a tangible reminder of her embrace, and I have embroidered her likeness upon it as a way to carry her with me. The text written on the jacket’s sleeves are letters that we wrote to each other—I wrote on one sleeve, mailed the jacket to her in Las Vegas, which has been her home since 2005, and she in turn wrote and mailed it back to me. I worked on this piece over the course of ten months. The meticulous treatment, labor, and length of time involved in the construction of this work underline its prominent role as a coping strategy facilitating my emotional assimilation of this experience.”