>> CHICAGO-BASED ARTIST CREATED A SERIES OF WORK ABOUT HER HOMELAND.

PUERTO RICO.

AND HER MIGRATION TO HER ADULT HOMETOWN.

-- MAKES TEMPORARY PUBLIC SCULPTURES THAT IS BOTH ISLAND CULTURE AND ARCHITECTURE.

HER ARTWORK HAS BEEN EXHIBITED IN BRAZIL, CUBA, AND THE MUSEUM IN NEW YORK CITY.

MARK VITELLI CAUGHT UP WITH HER IN HIGH PARK.

>> THE BIG GARAGE DOORS OF THE HYDE PARK ART CENTER ARE OPEN.

WELCOMING VISITORS INTO AN IMMERSIVE STRUCTURE.

ARCHITECTURAL MOTIFS MIRROR PATTERNS SEEN ON HOUSES IN PUERTO RICO.

A HAND FABRICATED DOMINO TABLE REFLECTS EIGHT POPULAR PASTIME ON THE ISLAND.

AND THERE ARE PHOTOGRAPHS EMBEDDED IN THE WORK.

THE PROJECT IS CALLED DRAFT.

NOT THE POLITICAL KIND, BUT A TRANSPLANT.

AN OFFSHOOT PLANTED IN A NEW PLACE.

>> I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THE SERIES GRAFT FOR A DECADE NOW.

THEY, THE WORD GRAFT COMES OUT OF MY NECESSITY OF CREATING SOMETHING THAT REPRESENTS MY MIGRATION.

MY DISTANCE FROM PUERTO RICO IS, EFFECTS AND INFORMS THE WAY I SEE PUERTO RICO.

I THINK IT MEANT SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT WHEN I LIVED THERE.

AND WHAT IT MEANS NOW, IT IS IMPACTED BY MY MIGRATION.

IN THE EXPERIENCE OF LIVING IN PORTO RICO.

>> A CLOSER LOOK AT SOME WORKS REVEALS VIEWFINDERS WITH TINY PHOTOS OF PUERTO RICO.

>> WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT MIGRATION, THAT IS NOT ONE SINGLE EXPERIENCE OR FEELING.

MIGRATION COMES WITH GRIEF AND LOSS AND NEGOTIATIONS OF THAT JOURNEY.

>> SOTO GREW UP IN PUERTO RICO.

SHE MOVED TO CHICAGO 25 YEARS AGO AND GOT HER MSA FROM THE SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE.

SHE MAKES EPHEMERAL ARTWORK OUT OF TAPE, TIN, PLYWOOD, AND PLASTICS.

AND SHE REUSES MATERIALS.

PARTS OF THIS WORK WERE PREVIOUSLY IN A POND AT THE CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDENS.

>> I DESCRIBE IT AS ARCHITECTURAL INTERVENTION.

IT HAS A SYMBOLIC TRANSPLANT CRITICAL ED GRAFF BECAUSE, FOR ME, GRAFT, THE WORD COMING FROM SKIN TRANSPLANTS, I KEPT THINKING ABOUT IS A REALLY ACCURATE WAY OF REPRESENTING MY SENTIMENT AS SOMEBODY THAT MIGRATED FROM PUERTO RICO.