“We’re interested in communication with extraterrestrial intelligence. Wouldn’t a good beginning be better communication with terrestrial intelligence? With other human beings of different cultures and languages?” 

(Carl Sagan. Cosmos, 1980)

Arleene Correa de Valencia and Santino Gonzales are artists whose practice investigates the figure of the alien. Correa de Valencia is an undocumented Mexican immigrant, who uses her experience in the United States to reflect and illuminate the migrant experience of an illegal alien. Gonzales is American born and a 4th-generation New Mexican, looking at broad definitions of borders and the alien, incorporating ideas surrounding the extra-terrestrial into his work. 

Both perspectives merge in Alienation, a multimedia show that highlights the unique overlaps between immigration politics and the culture of Ufology. Each artist offers points-of-view from either side of the US-Mexico border, presenting a beacon that seeks to form connections between people, the land, and the Other.