Julio César Morales’s rug design borrows an image from his ongoing Undocumented Interventions series, highlighting the harrowing conditions a young boy might endure for clandestine passage into the United States. Rendered in hand-drawn lines and watercolor, these works possess a beauty and ephemerality that belie the horrors they illustrate: men, women, and children tucked inside customized piñatas, suitcases, and vehicle dashboards that have been modified to accommodate and conceal living bodies. Ironically, while the “interventions” employed by migrants underscore a sense of despair and distress, they also highlight immigrants’ ingenuity, determination, and dedication—qualities the United States purports to seek and prize.
