- Most of my work comes from thinking about my position in this country as an undocumented person, and these labels that define who I am, legally, in this country and illegally, and where I'm allowed to go and where I'm not allowed to go.

I'm also really interested in what it means to grow up and to live in Napa, a wine country that is so rich and full of wealth but also is home to some of the most cruel conditions for human beings and the labor industry.

My name is Arleene Correa Valencia and I was born in Arteaga, Michoacán in Mexico.

And I came to the United States when I was three in 1997.

There's definitely a lot of shame that comes with being undocumented, especially when you're younger.

Growing up in the Valley, you know, you see limos driving by with people that are going wine tasting.

And meanwhile, I was worried and my family was worried that if we go to the grocery store, there might be like an ICE raid.

But it wasn't something that like I allowed to stop me from pursuing a higher education.

- [Arleene] This one's a lot bigger.

When my family came to California, my mom had an aunt in Napa, so we came here.

More family started coming up.

It was such a tight living situation, that at one point there was 16 of us in a two bedroom apartment.

My father worked painting houses and my mom was a house cleaner.

And then in 2001, they were able to buy their first home.

And then we moved 15 minutes away, just on the outskirts.

But growing up here, you know, we were amongst all the other Latino families.

The first time I had an article written on my work and me, my dad, he was like, "why would you want to talk about these things, it's gonna put you in danger".

And then I like sat down and I talked to him and I was like dad, look, listen.

A lot of the people talking about this haven't necessarily really lived it.

I have to try to show people like what it's like.

And I think that's when he really understood.

My life has always been this like in-between, right, where I had uncles and family members that harvest the grapes, but I also have friends that invite me out to go wine tasting.

So when I go out and I do my research and I talk to people, I try to make sure that they know that I don't feel like I'm better than them, and that, you know, that I would never want to belittle them or use them.

Showing them that I speak their language is a way to connect, it's a way to like break that ice and to really bond and to allow them to trust me and to show them that I can be trusted.

I want to commemorate these moments and to honor them and say like, "This was a beautiful moment where I saw that my community was reflecting this resilience, extreme work ethic, this need to survive".

(ambulance sirens) - [Male News Anchor] Fires are burning in Sonoma and Napa counties.

- [Female News Anchor] Thousands of residents have been forced to flee.

- [Male News Anchor 2 ] At least 10 people dead, 100 people missing.

- [Male News Anchor 3] One of the most severe disasters in decades.

- [Arleene] The fires of October 2017, it was such a surreal experience.

All the cars were rushing to the gas station, people were getting out, and it was like the peak of harvest season.

I looked outside and people were still working and I was like, hold on, you know, if we're not advised to even be outside to breathe the air, these people should not be harvesting.

Automatically, like the artist mode in me turned on.

And to really honor that sacrifice.

For them, if they didn't work, they couldn't feed their families, couldn't pay rent.

So I painted portraits of people doing their job and they're all at night.

I really wanted to play with this idea of finding your way through the painting in this moment of darkness.

My dad, he's comes into my work in everything I do.

He's the reason why I paint.

When he was younger he had a lot of dreams of being an artist and as soon as, you know, he had us and his children, he realized that his life goal was no longer to fulfill his dreams, but to make sure that we never had to step down from ours.

His knowledge of color and work with wood and textures, it really informs a lot of my work and what I do.

When the idea of painting on pallets came to me, thinking about manufacturing goods, and what it means to import and export goods, and the freedom that goods have versus the freedom that I have in this country.

I consulted my dad, and so now we've developed, you know, this technique of working the pallet where I'm able to paint it and it's able to have a longer life and transform this thing that's literally found in the streets into a piece of art.

And that's really how I see our relationship and, you know, our family.

I believe that we transform ourselves from being considered nothing to being something.

I'm really honored to be here and to be a part of this show and very proud to represent both my family and my culture.

I'm really excited to be able to bring a brown face to these galleries.

When my work gets to actually exist in places that are beyond the confinements of the undocumented experience.