Laurie Buman Saint Cabrini of the River (2019)

Laurie Buman
Saint Cabrini of the River (2019)
Archival fine art print with gold leaf
35” X 26”
$1,950

On June 24, 2019, in Matamoros, Mexico, Salvadoran migrant Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez and his nearly two-year-old daughter, Valeria, were found dead on the bank of the Rio Grande. Their heads were wrapped in a black t-shirt and Valeria’s tiny right arm was draped over her father’s shoulders. For many, the story of Oscar and Valeria became symbolic of the many migrants who risk death daily by crossing the treacherous Rio Grande river desperate for a better life in pursuit of the American dream.

In this piece, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants, serves as a symbol of remembrance and protection for migrants. In 1889, she immigrated to the United States as the nation was becoming flooded with Italian immigrants to whom she provided support. She is the first person in the United States to be canonized.