Consuelo Jimenez Underwood American, b. 1949

Initially part of the 2009 installation Undocumented Tortilla Happening, this steel and barbed wire tortilla basket is placed on a table beneath three giant organza and wire tortillas suspended in midair, positioned as if they were flipped from the comal and began to fly. The scene was a commentary on immigration policy, pulled from the artist’s memories of her father being taken away by the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service). She fantasizes: “Imagine the wee hours of the night, in a kitchen, in a home, where tortillas have Spirit!” The traditional design and intricate detail of the basket speak to the importance of honoring ancestral practices, while its harsh materials allude to the border’s violent impact on the ability to keep cultures and families intact.

"The dominant motifs of this series are the simple tortilla and the basket, both symbols of Indigenous peoples particularly renowned for their basket-weaving techniques and the long-standing eating habits they shared...Baskets are usually made out of natural materials such as wood, grass, or animal remains. But in Undocumented Tortilla Basket (2008), an empty basket made of barbed wire, aluminum, and steel wire evoked the unnatural experience of the US-Mexico borderland: a territory plunged in pain and disavowal"
Clara Roman-Odio, "Flags, the Sacred, and a Different American in Consuelo Jimenez Underwood's Fiber Art," Consuelo Jimenez Underwood: Art, Weaving, Vision, Duke University Press, 2022