Untitled (Dystopia, 5 of Spades)

Dewey Tafoya's Utopian Jack of Spades piece was created in part of the 'Utopia/Dystopia' portfolio, curated by artist Miyo Stevens-Gandara. Miyo invited 26 artists to each pick two cards from a full deck, incorporating a diverse range of interpretations and ideas into a single, unified collection. Tafoya verbally places the reality of colonization as a central struggle in personal and community resistance, and implicates present-day immigration policies, carried out through ICE, as a force of colonization in the present. In his utopian print, the phrase "Nunca Colonizadx," along with the Olmec heads iconography, signifies a world in which colonization never occurred. These prints draw upon imagery of ancient cultures and emphasize their influence on Chicanx cultures and movements.