Corazón Migrante is part of the larger installation Nunca olvides que tienes alas (Never Forget You Have Wings), created for the exhibition ¡Te Amo Porque S.O.S. Pueblo! (I Love You Because You Are My People). The exhibition is envisioned as a portal of care, resistance, and joy—an offering from and for the migrant community, and a collective response to hate through tenderness, presence, and community coming together.
The piece features a pair of large, open wings shaped from metal wire and bordered with barbed wire. Their mesh surfaces are covered with hundreds of delicate paper feathers, each done and fastened with zip ties. The contrast between industrial materials and fragile tissue paper speaks to the tension between vulnerability and control in the migrant experience. The zip ties reference those used in mass detentions, while the feathers represent the fragility and hope carried by those who leave home in search of safety, work, and a better life.
At the center, connecting the wings, floats a sacred heart made of black papier-mâché, inspired by traditional iconography. A flame rises from the top—wrapped in barbed wire—and at the heart’s core sits a mirror inscribed with the phrase: Nunca olvides que tienes alas — Never forget that you have wings. Viewers are invited to look into the mirror and see themselves reflected in the piece, reminded of their own strength, fragility, and capacity to move forward.
At the base of the piece sits a simple coir doormat stenciled with the word ADELANTE. While it literally means “forward,” adelante is also a common way to say “come in” in Spanish—a word of welcome. The mat invites viewers to step up, take part, and physically enter the piece. Arms open, wings behind them, people become part of the work—turning the installation into a space of participation, presence, and connection.
Blanka Amezkua, curator of Te Amo Porque S.O.S. Pueblo, standing on Nunca olvides que tienes alas.
