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Growing up in Chicago to immigrant parents has cemented a conflict of belonging and safety within my identity. Being first generation, I was thrown into a society that constantly challenges my rights as an American and targets my community because of their immigration status. I had to survive in a social space that had little regard for the complexities of growing up ethnically Mexican in a racialized society. Safety and security were things that were never a part of my experience while living in the United States. With fears of my family being deported, I felt alienated by a country I had to pledge myself to. Furthermore, this alienation was reinforced by my queer identity. Being a body that has experienced violence, neglect, and homophobia within and outside my community has become the catalyst of my work. For this reason, the body has become my conceptual focus.