Gulf of Mexico | Cecilia Barreto

América sola is a project that arises from the need to map the invisible tensions that shape the political and economic geography of the North American bloc. From a critical and situated stance, I examine how power relations —particularly between the United States, China, and Latin America— affect the sovereignty, memory, and collective bodies of our territories." The recent renegotiation of the USMCA marks a turning point that I am interested in exploring through art. Far from being just a trade agreement, this treaty redefines structural relationships between the signatory countries: it consolidates economic hierarchies, imposes labor conditions, and deepens the South's dependence on the North. These dynamics, although presented as cooperation, operate within a system of influence that updates old forms of subordination. My practice investigates how influence is negotiated, imposed, or concealed through treaties, mega-infrastructure projects, economic sanctions, or military interventions. These forms of domination are not abstract: they manifest in landscapes, materials, and displaced bodies. Through installation, painting-essay, and expanded diagramming, I visualize these dynamics as living constellations, structures in tension where power is redistributed and reconfigured.