Miguel Limon is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, and cultural worker based in Chicago. Growing up as the queer child of Mexican immigrants on the city’s South East Side, Miguel explores themes of identity, labor, and overlooked histories. His projects, like Foundry Echoes and Hogares Perdidos, blend photography, printmaking, and archival research to illuminate the stories of Mexican-American communities shaped by industrial landscapes.
Miguel believes art can drive social change, transforming forgotten histories into living monuments. His work has been supported by the Puffin Foundation and Aperture Foundation, and featured in publications such as Vogue and V Magazine. Through his practice, he invites communities to reclaim their narratives and envision new futures rooted in justice and belonging.
Hogares
Perdidos
2016 – 2019.
Commissioned by:
Mana Contemporary/WIP 2019
Awards:
Aperture Foundation/Google Creators Lab Photo Fund 2021
Press:
Vogue
V Magazine
Grazia
Commissioned by:
Mana Contemporary/WIP 2019
Awards:
Aperture Foundation/Google Creators Lab Photo Fund 2021
Press:
Vogue
V Magazine
Grazia
Inspired by personal experience as the queer son of Mexican immigrants and growing up on Chicago’s south side, the images in “Hogares Perdidos” (Lost Homes) depicts Miguel Limon’s understanding of his family's history and culture in the US, most of which he experienced second-hand. This inherently complicates his identity formation and forms a cognitive dissonance towards themes of memory, family, and Xicanidad.
Due to the duality of Mexicanness and Americanness, Miguel has developed a disconnect between personal identity and cultural identity.
In an attempt to close this gap, Miguel creates his own archival media that embodies the memory of his youth, especially since most of the material culture saved by his family had been created prior to his birth. In his contemporary archives, he creates images exploring his relationship with himself, his mother, and his father, all of which serve as conduits of heritage and cultural knowledge. At the same time, Miguel adapts family photos into convoluted and confusing visuals, alluding to the dissonance that has plagued his learned memory of the Mexican American experience. Many of these repurposed images are of Miguel’s siblings, who have also had to deal with their own identity, subsequently informing the way Miguel views his own.
All the while, Mexican experimental artist, Isaac Soto’s “Cuanto Vale el Momento” or How Much is a Moment Worth? plays in the background, prompting Miguel's questioning of whether creating new memory has resolved anything at all.
Uki
2024. Bamboo, palm fronds, cotton, acrylic, hot-melt adhesive. Custom walnut handle made by Keith Eckmayer.
Uki
2024. Bamboo, palm fronds, cotton, acrylic, hot-melt adhesive. Custom walnut handle made by Keith Eckmayer.
“Uki” is homage to Tatei Niwetzika, the Maize Mother, revered by the Huichol people of Jalisco, Mexico. This kite, meticulously fashioned to resembl a being made of maize husks and palm, with a blue spot, pointing to the blue maize core. As an object, Uki serves as a tangible embodiment of the spiritual and cultural significance of maize in tradition.
The perpetual cycle of life is symbolized by Tatei Niwetzika’s role as the giver of sustenance and renewal. Even in her name, Tatei is mother and Niwe is child. The fuller front end, adorned with a central blue circle, speaks to the abundance and nurturing essence of Tatei, while the wispy gestures of blue in the tail allude to the promise of a bountiful future. The back end of the kite, trailing behind like a child (Niwe), remains connected, symbolizing the eternal bond between the Maize Mother and Child. Though distinct, they are inseparable.
Through the delicate dance of colors and forms, this kite invites viewers to contemplate their own relationship with the natural world and the timeless wisdom embedded within indigenous traditions. As the kite takes flight, may it carry with it the spirit of Tatei Niwetzika, guiding us towards harmony, reciprocity, and reverence for the sacredness of life.
Ink & Impact (Part 1)
Role: Artist-in-Residence
AIPS Artist Residency 2023 – 2024 (Previously CPSLives)
Partner School: Walter Payton College Prep
AIPS Artist Residency 2023 – 2024 (Previously CPSLives)
Partner School: Walter Payton College Prep
"Ink & Impact," showcased at the Design Museum of Chicago, was a collaborative project by Miguel Limón, CPSLives Resident for 2023-24, and students from Walter Payton College Prep. The initiative engaged students in exploring Chicago's rich history of print media and the Zine and self-publishing community. Through archival research, photography, and printmaking, students produced posters, zines, flyers, and oral histories, drawing inspiration from historical social movements such as the Black Panthers, Young Lords, and the Chicago Women's Graphic Collective. The project included a risograph workshop and the creation of the "Komically Kids" club to teach screenprinting and risography, addressing contemporary issues like the reduction of gender-neutral bathrooms in schools. The resulting collection of prints highlighted the power of youth in cultural preservation and social activism.
Arts + Public Life
Role: Manager of Education Proograms
University of Chicago
University of Chicago
Management of core educational youth programs, Design Apprenticeship Program, Teen Arts Council, Community Actors Program, and Backstage Production, including: pedagogical guidance, administration, teaching artist training and supervision, budget management, and Partnership Liaison for After School Matters.
ARTS + PUBLIC LIFE YOUTH EDUCATION CORE PROGRAMS:
The Design Apprenticeship Program I & II (DAP) is a design-based mentorship and skills-building initiative that encourages teens and young adults to invest in the improvement of the physical and social conditions of their community.
The Community Actors Program (CAP) is an introductory performance program utilizing Theater of the Oppressed, participatory theater, and performance as tools for community building and social change.
The Teen Arts Council (TAC) is a group of student leaders who collaborate with the Arts + Public Life initiative to develop creative skills, leadership experience, and opportunities for their peers to engage with the arts.
The Back Stage Production Program (BSP) is designed to give South Side Chicago youth an introduction to the fundamentals of theater production while giving them hands-on experience in audio and lighting design, sound engineering, and stage management.
Xerox, Bind, & Sell
Role: Teaching Artist
Marwen Foundation
Marwen Foundation
As teaching artist at Marwen Foundation, Xerox, Bind, and Sell piloted a partnership between Buddy Chicago and the Cultural Center (DCASE) where students now sell their work. The course, a collaboration with Sarita Danielle, is a interdisciplinary self-publishing course where students design art objects and posters, later to be designed, risographed [printed], and assembled for the store. Final projects included buttons, zines, posters, bookmarks, and comics.
