My name is Baby Ciel

I moved here last year, in the summer with my husband that is from Maine. He was coming back home after many years living in different places. I am Brazilian and I was turning an American citizen in the same summer. I heard that the asylum seekers arrived at the Expo and I decided to volunteer as a Portuguese speaker to help because I know how hard it is to arrive in a new country without speaking the language. I heard many histories about their journeys and touched me deep down in my soul. It reflected in my artwork. I wrote a fiction letter “My name is Baby Ciel,” based on the reality I experienced there. My friend Liz Rhaney interpreted the letter being the voice of the baby.

- Roberta March, MFA student at MECA in Portland