Migration is an Earth Right - 2026

Migration Is an Earth Right is an ongoing series of acrylic paintings that explores migration as a fundamental part of life on Earth. Each painting depicts a migratory animal, such as a Canada goose, Galápagos tortoise, wildebeest, or humpback whale, traveling alongside monarch butterflies, a species whose annual migration has become a powerful symbol of immigration and resilience.

The series emerged from my struggle to make sense of the fear, division, and suffering surrounding immigration in the United States. For me, these issues are not abstract political debates. They are deeply personal. I have watched close friends live with the uncertainty that family members who have spent decades building lives, raising children, and contributing to their communities, could be separated from the only home they know. I have listened to my Haitian brother grapple with hearing his birthplace and people like him reduced to harmful stereotypes and political rhetoric. In truth, this series initially grew from feeling helpless and powerless. As I watched families face separation, uncertainty, and displacement, I found myself asking what role I could play in creating change. Thus, I turned to my most powerful tools of sparking conversation: paint, imagination, and canvases.

Migration is one of the most universal phenomena in the natural world. Every year, countless species undertake extraordinary journeys in pursuit of survival, opportunity, reproduction, or more favorable habitats. We often celebrate these migrations with awe and admiration, tracking the movement of whales across oceans, marveling at the endurance of monarch butterflies, and cheering for birds that travel thousands of miles between continents. Yet when human beings migrate for many of the same reasons, to seek safety, stability, opportunity, or a better future for their families, that admiration often gives way to suspicion, fear, and hostility.

By pairing migratory animals with monarch butterflies, I invite viewers to consider the parallels between human migration and the migrations we celebrate throughout nature. The animals serve as reminders that movement across landscapes, borders, and generations is not an anomaly but a defining characteristic of life itself.

The vibrant, highly saturated colors throughout the series are intended to celebrate the richness of culture, identity, and community that migration brings. Rather than focusing solely on hardship, the paintings emphasize resilience, beauty, and interconnectedness. They ask viewers to imagine migration not as a threat, but as an expression of life's persistence and adaptability.

Ultimately, Migration Is an Earth Right seeks to foster empathy. If we can find wonder in the journeys of monarch butterflies, geese, whales, and tortoises, perhaps we can also recognize the courage, hope, and dignity present in the journeys of our neighbors. Through these paintings, I hope to encourage a deeper reflection on belonging, compassion, and our shared place within the natural world.