Enrique Castrejon : Los Angeles, CA
Why I Measure? Reason #1 Critique and Investigate Current Events and Socio/Political Issues:
By selecting images depicting injustice, violence, death or destruction I am trying to understand the impact of event and respond by what I see, feel, and read. How does a person get affected by an event in another place in the world? How do the images influence point of view and what about the articles that might be next to images or content besides it? How does that inform what we see and understand?
By dissecting images I'm questioning what I see and investigate what makes this image powerful and is what I am seeing true. It also makes you consider whose point of view is this image coming from, and are we seeing the whole picture? What is happening behind the frame? Is it propaganda? Are these images impactful to people anymore as we are oversaturated and possibly desensitized with all media images of war, violence, and death (from real events or movies, video games, and AI generated images). How can we pause and contemplate images to take their meaning or message in? How do we distinguish what's true from misinformation? How being critical of what is presented to us through media is not negativing the issue but building evidence and gathering information through research to make a calculated and informed decisions of the issue being shared.
I do it through measuring.
Remnants of a House. Measured in inches and calculated angle degrees. Collage, glue, graphite on paper. 16"x 20" 2006.
Image is referencing a home destroyed by shelling from US military during Iraqi war 2006. This image can similarly depict images related to Gaza in present time! Through measurement I investigate the debris, the damage to make sense of it. In my liner dissection the measuring although rational becomes irrational - pinpoints to the senselessness of war and senseless violence in the world.
Where is Due Process? Collage, glue, ink and graphite on paper. 18"x 24" 2025.
The act of deporting this men was alarming.
Image: "What does the administration claim? That the Alien Enemies Act, which permits deportation of foreign nationals during wars or invasions, is applicable because the Venezuelan gang Then de Aragua's activities constitute an "invasion". But they have not provided solid evidence that those departed are even gang members; one was a 23 year old gay make up artist with no apparent gang affiliations.
They were flown to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison. The men were deported despite court orders, held without due process in inhumane conditions, and were later released in July 2025 exchanged for American citizens and political prisoners held in Venezuela."