FedExile

FedExile is an ongoing, site-specific series that examines the fragility and resilience of immigrant identity in the contemporary West. Comprising figurative chiaroscuro portraits painted on used FedEx shipping boxes, the project transforms commercial packaging into a raw medium for storytelling. Each box features the likeness of a first- or second-generation immigrant, rendered in expressive contrast that evokes both presence and vulnerability. The boxes are exhibited collectively as immersive installations and are sometimes shipped across borders without protection, allowing them to acquire physical scars that mirror the emotional and structural challenges of migration. Through this act, Chimen draws attention to the disposability and endurance of migrant lives, questioning systems of movement, value, and recognition.FedExile invites viewers to reflect on immigration not as a statistic or policy debate, but as a lived and embodied condition—shaped by exposure, displacement, and the persistent assertion of humanity across precarious journeys.