Polly Dawson
Todos Somos Familia Bonita y Chingona, 2023
Framed archival gicle print on matte photographic paper
16x24"
 
A photograph taken during Carnival in Oaxaca, Mexico: townspeople cover themselves in motor oil, wear hand-carved devil masks, and run wild through the streets. I caught this figure as they passed a wall painted ‚Todos somos una familia bonita y chingona‚ (we are all a beautiful badass family). This oily demon, mid-rampage and arms outstretched, becomes a symbol of radical belonging: a reminder that within the chaos of anomie, there's empathy, unity, fierce love, and defiant beauty.