Sweet Fields/Campos Dulces represents the strong will of the Latin American community to work for a better life for their families and themselves. Latin Americans are part of the history of migration in the Midwest and an integral part of the fabric of the United States. The Mexican communities in Nebraska formed as families supported
themselves through labor on railroads, sugar beets farms, and packing factories. Today, people from many Latin American countries labor in factories to put meat on the tables of households everywhere. Our stories represent the hope and faith for the fields to be plentiful with sweet harvests.

Jonathan Christensen Caballero’s work is based on his identity, formed by watching his parents support the family through labor jobs and by his mother, who emigrated from Panama. Christensen Caballero’s artwork narrates enduring questions of identity with the human figure, labor history, and mixed-media sculpture. Christensen Caballero’s narrative sculpture reinterprets the visual iconography throughout North and Central America with the materials available to working-class people today.

The cost of participation in our society leads to questions of inclusion versus exclusion. Who benefits from the American dream? Who is allowed representation, visibility, and a sense of belonging? The figures reveal people who contribute to society by enduring labor, often sacrificing their health and safety. Through his art, Christensen Caballero hopes to be part of the change he wants to see in the world. It is a moral imperative for Latin Americans to be celebrated as part of the fabric of US society. Our bodies aren’t solely destined for labor but love, joy, and acceptance.