DREAMers Portals

Format: Art installation

Year: 2025

Materials: Foam, wood, concrete, paracord

Location : Paseo Project, Taos, NM

Credits: Carlos Sabogal García + Alaa Quraishi

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DREAMers Portals is a DACA installation art project examining the threshold between documented and undocumented status. The installation constructs a series of “portals” — door frames leading toward the “American Dream” arch. Only one portal offers a direct physical pathway to the arch, but woven threads bind all portals together, creating layered thresholds. The moiré effect signifies varying degrees of distance from the “American Dream.” Each portal represents a distinct approach to that distance.

The DREAMers Portal is a half-fulfilled promise wedged between the documented and undocumented. It frames the “American Dream” arch perfectly but blocks all access to it. The space is small, with little room for movement, evoking restriction. Although this portal sits closest to the arch, it is also the most obstructed. For the DREAMer, the “American Dream” ends before it begins.

The Undocumented Portal stands significantly shorter than the rest, requiring the visitor to bow upon entry. The space behind it opens slightly, yet remains enclosed. After moving through it, the viewer must exit the same way they entered — there is no forward passage.

The Documented Portal is the only one that offers an exit into the “American Dream” arch. The arch does not come into view upon entry — only after crossing the threshold does it reveal itself fully.

Each portal carries ornaments that transition from intricate to monolithic, compressing detail as they descend. This transformation reinforces the project’s directional logic. Color-driven LEDs intensify each typology, registering orientation, passage, and distance from the “American Dream.”