My name is Socorro Reyes Ramírez and I am from Nanchital, Veracruz, an oil town very close to Coatzacoalcos.

I come from a very humble family, but nevertheless my family has always been very artistic, it has had many artisanal qualities.

I learned a lot from my grandmother, embroidery techniques.

She was the town's seamstress, the one who made the costumes for the parades.

So I was born and raised among textiles and different embroidery techniques.

Much of my story is that I started as a children's illustrator and almost all of my art.

You'll always find a story.

I've always liked my pieces to have a meaning, something that goes beyond just a picture or a painting.

If you are a person who likes to observe, you will find many symbols.

I think what I do most is enjoy creating it.

I like to create works without limits that have different techniques, and I really like to use recycled materials to give them a second life.

And I like to mix, which means combining those materials with the symbolism that gives a work of art.

So I do a lot of mixed media or multimedia art that involves different techniques.

Being an immigrant changes your perspective and the way you see your own country.

Now that I'm away from Mexico and in another country, I realized how important culture is and how you develop.

The immigrant's path is a long one, full of joys and obstacles.

It's a journey full of emotions that changes you as a person.

It's a way of looking for something more.

The immigrant's journey introduces you to people who change you forever.

Since I arrived, I've socialized a lot with the Hispanic community here in Kansas City and I've met people from different Latin American countries and I've realized that Latin communities or women have many things in common, much more than they sometimes realize.

For me, being Mexican means a lot because they are my roots and it is also part of my work.

When you see my work you will see a lot of Mexican identity.

One day An American anthropologist traveled to Veracruz to give a lecture on Olmec culture and said something that stuck in my mind.

He said, "You people of Manchita, the people who are here should be proud to be living in a place where the mother of all Mesoamerican cultures, the Olmec culture, was born."

That changed me.

That's when I developed a love and an identity that, even though there aren't many vestiges of the Olmec culture, seeped into my being and is part of me.

construction site.

For me, Kansas City is a very special city, because the first thing I learned was that it was an artistic city.

That made me very emotional.

And here he discovered Nelson's museum, which had a Caravaggio.

It was a dream come true because during university I always really liked Italian painting.

Of course, but I'd never had the chance to see one in person.

For me, water means everything because I had a spiritual encounter with water.

After I started swimming, I realized that many things began to change, like my way of thinking, my way of seeing things.

And it was the water that gave me the courage to do new things.

It helped me connect with my body.

Then I began to see my body, no longer just as the hand that moves the brush, but I began to see it as another extension to make my art.

And so dance was born.

The immigrant.

A work 100% made by her Mexican migrant roots, artist and great woman.