Groana Melendez
Untitled (Throat), 2015
Video: 2:18 mins
Courtesy of the artist

Groana Melendez’s family is split between the Dominican Republic and the United States, a situation that has shaped her practice. She has used her cameras (both still and video) to look for moments of stability and truth in the shifting terrain of stories that binds a family together across long distances. This video is part of El Nombre Mío, Ajeno, a body of work that began as an attempt to represent her family members at a specific point in time and developed into an exploration of the interconnected layers of class and identity that exist within the family structure. Melendez refers to El Nombre Mío, Ajeno as a turning point in her practice, a moment when she decided to embark on a focused examination of herself as an individual with an identity outside the family unit.
(DKS)

Part of El Nombre Mío, Ajeno, this video depicts the artist chugging a liter of water as a telephone conversation between herself and her mother plays.