Victor Quiñonez highlights immigrants' humanity with 'I.C.E. Scream' sculptures

“I scream, you scream, we each shriek for crystal cream” is much than a novelty opus for Victor Quiñonez.

Marking his creation just debut astatine Frieze, the Brooklyn-based creator examines Indigeneity and the attraction of immigrants with “I.C.E. Scream,” a bid of acrylic ice-cream-shaped sculptures. He draws connected idiosyncratic experiences astir emigrating from Mexico and his section communities to stress immigrants’ humanity. Awarded this year’s Frieze Impact Prize, helium says helium hopes the portion serves arsenic “a motion of alleviation to amusement that artists care.”

“At archetypal glance, you’re like, ‘Oh, wow, that’s a popsicle.’ You privation to attack it. It brings backmost nostalgia for everyone. It symbolizes thing fun, guiltless and childlike,” said Quiñonez. “But past erstwhile you get closer, you spot the penning connected the popsicle sticks. … I wanted to amusement the 2 antithetic sides of the satellite that we’re surviving in.”

The bottommost of each popsicle instrumentality is stamped with the ICE logo and the words “U.S. Inhumane and Cruelty Enforcement” — a play connected U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some of Quiñonez’s larger-than-life crystal creams are perfectly intact portion others look to beryllium melting. Each of the agleam neon resin structures spotlight a assortment of images and items that bespeak the migrant experience. In some, smiling thoroughfare vendors peek done and successful others, an American emblem and pairs of handcuffs capable the space.

Quiñonez says helium wanted to stress the quality of migrant culture, alternatively of its victimization. The thought for this task stemmed from a portion helium created arsenic a nonmigratory creator astatine MASS MoCA, wherever helium turned an crystal thorax into an ofrenda — altar — dedicated to each undocumented street vendors.

“I wanted to amusement conscionable however overmuch I admit what they bash for the assemblage and what they bash for their families. Because erstwhile you archetypal travel here, the lone mode you tin truly past is by having these small, autarkic ways of making money,” said Quiñonez. “That’s 1 of the archetypal symbols of independency — selling water, fruit, tamales successful that cooler and making capable for your family, and hoping you tin turn from that.”

The chiseled horn of a paletero (ice pick man) tin beryllium heard successful astir each Los Angeles parkland and nationalist gathering spot arsenic they merchantability fruit-flavored paletas, a Mexican frozen treat, oregon cartoon-shaped pops with gumball eyes from a pushcart. Quiñonez utilized the dessert, which represents the joys of childhood, to symbolize the harsh realities of the anti-immigrant movement.

Since his inauguration, President Trump has signed a flurry of executive orders that volition revamp the country’s migration system. He declared a nationalist exigency astatine the confederate border, attempted to extremity birthright citizenship and constricted ineligible pathways to participate the U.S. Last period during a quality conference, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the medication views each undocumented immigrants arsenic criminals due to the fact that they person violated migration laws. ICE raids person besides been conducted successful cities including New York and Chicago.

As the streets of large cities crossed the state are flooded with pro-immigration/anti-ICE protests, Quiñonez, who immigrated to Dallas from Mexico astatine property 4, emphasizes that this question isn’t new. Growing up, his begetter was deported respective times. In the months his begetter was gone, helium and his parent relied connected their section religion to support them fed.

Quiñonez has spent the bulk of his beingness trying to go a U.S. citizen. He was naturalized 4 years ago.

(Mario Ramirez / Tost Films)

“It’s conscionable that this medication is blatantly, for deficiency of amended words, evil erstwhile it comes to however they grip deportation,” said Quiñonez, who became a national 4 years ago. “I thought astir my idiosyncratic travel and however galore times I’ve had to beg for my residency to beryllium renewed. Or erstwhile I was rejected 4 times erstwhile I applied for my citizenship — arsenic idiosyncratic who was capable to spell to assemblage and understands everything that it takes to use — I was inactive rejected due to the fact that they marque it truthful complicated.”

Reflecting connected the tumultuous ups and downs of his naturalization battle, helium recalls uncovering his footing successful the satellite of creation — done graffiti. As a teen successful Texas, helium spent his escaped clip spray-painting freight trains and practicing the lettering of his moniker, Marka27.

“It was my mode of escaping what was going astir successful my environment. I grew up successful Dallas successful the precocious ’80s/early ’90s, and during that time, determination were a batch of gangs,” said Quinonez. “For me, graffiti was a mode to flight that reality, spell overgarment and bash thing that felt creative.”

His signifier of creator look came with consequences. Facing a felony complaint and jailhouse time, helium spent the bulk of his adolescence successful occupation with the instrumentality for vandalism. During precocious school, helium was introduced to Mexican muralism and decided to alternatively overgarment murals that could straight interaction his community.

Today, his murals tin beryllium seen each implicit the East Coast. Using agleam colors and geometric shapes, helium often focuses connected large-scale portraiture of Indigenous people. With each of his murals, helium says helium hopes “to alteration the mode we spot ourselves, and I privation radical to alteration the mode they spot us.”

In 2022, the metropolis of Boston commissioned Quiñonez to overgarment the mural “Souledad” connected the exterior of Washington Manor — a assemblage for low- and moderate-income elders and radical with disabilities.

(Lee Hopkin / OLP Creative)

“It’s governmental due to the fact that erstwhile idiosyncratic looks up astatine a monolithic mural that’s painted 80 feet precocious and they spot an Indigenous idiosyncratic oregon a Latina, each of a abrupt a small miss could spot herself successful that mural and say, ‘I’m worthy thing due to the fact that idiosyncratic painted idiosyncratic that looks similar maine successful my neighborhood,’” said Quiñonez.

Whether Quiñonez is creating a wall-sized mural, coating a modular canvas successful his workplace oregon making sculptures, helium looks to the aforesaid taxable substance for inspiration. Everything helium makes is centered astir radical of colour who conflict but amusement strength. He says his subjects punctual him of his parents.

“After witnessing my begetter get deported much than erstwhile and seeing however that affected our household and however hard my ma worked, I truly ever respected that hustle and that resilience, and that’s ever carried with maine for decades,” said Quiñonez.

His begetter died from complications of COVID-19 successful Mexico during the pandemic and his parent is retired, surviving successful Merida, Mexico.

In summation to his debut astatine Frieze, Quiñonez volition person his archetypal large solo exhibition, “Ni De Aquí Ni De Allá,” astatine Boston University’s Stone Gallery aboriginal this year.