Sacred and Profane
An art I piece that i created based on a concept of what I consider sacred / profane in my life
SYNOPSIS
Surprisingly enough, my story about what I find sacred and profane starts with the movie Back to the future. I remember as a kid, growing up in Indonesia, watching that movie over and over and somehow through that- the “AMERICAN DREAM” came alive in my mind. I always had a desire to live here after that, and America became to me sort of a magical place. Many years after watching that movie, at the age of 18 I moved here. It was supposed to be a 3 month stay, but has turned into a 12 year stay at this point-basically my adult life has been lived out here. As a teen I was involved in hard-core drugs, and my dad brought me here to give me a new chance at life. From that move, what I have found to be SACRED, really has come to life. I found faith in Jesus, my wife of 6 years, and the joy of my life my 3 year old son (who somehow has blonde hair) and the opportunity to pursue my passion in the arts. All of these things are what I have found to be sacred in my life.
So, that leads me to a recent experience I had with immigration when traveling back to the US-from my home of indonesia. Now, some of you may not know, but Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world. I had traveled home with my wife and son for my sisters wedding, and when coming back through immigration, that which I held as sacred (basically my life here) was profaned.
Let me tell you this as well, that I have always done things legally as far as immigration is concerned, having the proper visas, married a citizen, had my green card for 6 years, etc etc etc. But because I hold an Indonesian passport (us passports are only issued to citizens, and green card holders are not considered citizens), I was pulled into a room and questioned. Now, that may not sound like that big of a deal to some, some would say that immigration is just doing a good job. But when their “good job” touched my life personally -that which you hold sacred-basically my life here, and the thought that they could have total authority to rip all of my dreams from me – I felt PROFANED.
The fact that they only saw me as an Indonesian man, and not an 18 year old kid with a dream, with a hope that had been placed in me as a kid watching back to the future, I felt profaned. That which I held as sacred was being touched. My heritage is actually chinese-Indonesian, and They didn’t know that most chinese Indonesians are christians, they just knew I held an Indonesian passport. They didn’t know anything about me, they just knew I “ fit the profile” right. They threatened all I hold sacred, and it is because of that scenario that I decided to go ahead and get my US citizenship. I willl be sworn in as a US citizen on August 20th, just a few weeks away. You see, I hold this life that God has given me to be so sacred, that I don’t ever want some immigration officer to have the authority to touch it, not with any real affect, ever again.
Identifying the Art:
1. The 101179 represents me, my identity-it is my birth date.
2. The shadow of the numbers is actually the colors and design of the indonesian flag-red and white. The thickness of the lettering shows my history, my depth, my roots.
3. Obviously the imprint of the US flag on the front symbolizes the american imprint on my life.
4. The immigration logo colored in black and white symbolizes how I felt profaned in that they could just peel away my life if they wanted.
5. The coloring of the logo symbolizes how they could have stolen the life that I hold sacred, devoid of color etc
The splatters of color symbolizes life-vibrant and my many sacred experiences here that have given me so much life.
Hope you enjoy the story. Peace!
-Steve-
