Statement from the artist on cutting techniques: "I prefer to draw the image on the back of the paper because of the difficulty of erasing the pencil lines after cutting. This requires that the image be drawn backwards. A cutout needs connectors and the most challenging design is when the same elements of the image act as connectors so that when the paper cutout is picked up nothing flops or falls off. The paper cutout is then scanned and digitized for cutting the image on steel with laser." "Artist Statement: / This image has multiple meanings. Hummingbirds migrate to and from the United States and Mesoamerica each year. They fly over the Gulf of Mexico and over the land corridor of Central and Eastern Texas along the gulf Coast over Kingsville, my hometown. Their natural persistence for migration knows no borders. Other hummingbirds in the Southwestern Unites States make their nests in nopal cactus plants and eat the small flies that visit the flowers. At times when the wind is too strong a hummingbird returning to its nest will be impaled on the surrounding thorns. / In ancient Mesoamerica hummingbirds were seen as the spirits of warriors killed in battle and women who died in childbirth. They have the honor of accompanying the sun on its journey across the sky. / Migrant workers from Mexico and Central America have been crossing over the barbed wire fences that were installed across their ancient paths and will persist on their journeys even in great danger. This cutout is dedicated to the men, women, and children who died on their journey to the United States.