Fabián Cereijido escaped the military dictatorship in Argentina as a teenager, migrated to Mexico with his family, then settled in the United States in 1984, ultimately obtaining dual citizenship as an Argentinian-born American. In Viaje en Leche (Voyage in Milk), he explores displacement and rebirth, referencing an earlier self-portrait video work in which he submerged himself in a milk bath and rose to the surface. Here, Cereijido has used the printmaking process to reproduce his emergent face, capturing the image on glass or acrylic rather than traditional paper. His face emanates from what resembles a milky bath—made legible by the reflection of a white background placed behind the clear substrate. The tiny Spanish words inscribed in his mouth are noticeable only when looking closely: “Hello, I just arrived to where you are / I came swimming in milk.”
For Cereijido, milk is the universal source of life and nourishment, but also a liquid that conceals darker depths. Although his eyes are visible here, the artist has relayed that when he opens them while submerged in milk, he perceives only darkness, not the whiteness one would expect, a dichotomy that is central to his self-portrait.
Claudine Dixon
2023
