Water Trails
Photo taken in Pacifica CA 2025 with handwoven textile piece made in the Philippines
Memory of Water II
When I’m in water I feel alive and when I’m floating I am free.
The water that flows between the Philippines to the California shoreline connects me to my homeland.
The water connects me and binds me from my past to my present, as well internally and externally.
This water is necessary for my life as it holds/upholds my spirit.
When I am in water it is the place where I feel the most at home.
Pamela Ybañez • She/her • Bay Area CA
Pamela Ybañez is a Bay Area based artist. Her artwork incorporates personal and social investigations as a way to discuss inequalities, social hierarchies and as a way to strengthen her connection to her homeland. Examining how class and race affects different groups of people in similar and different ways, she examines her own history of migration, when they were allowed to come here, and how her being in this country relates to the Civil Rights Movement. Understanding that solidarity is key as she tries to comprehend what true liberation can be. Ultimately all her investigations lead her to systems of power and that the American idea of freedom is only for some and not for all people.
