Missing people exist neither dead nor alive, in a state of limbo until they are found. More than 61,000 people have vanished as an effect of the Mexican/American Drug war since December 11, 2006. This has left tens of thousands of families with the excruciating need to search for their loved ones to provide them with proper burials and gain closure. Most people who disappear in these circumstances are not reported missing or dead for fear of violent retaliation.

The series “Novenario para Los Desaparecidos” (Novena for the disappeared) is comprised of nine handmade paper artworks infused with a rosary used in a Novenario. Each of the works presented as part of this series is constructed as standing for a death certificate aiming to bring some level of closure to a grieving family. The Novenario is a nine-day novena-style prayer held every evening after Holy Mass. On the fortieth day after the declaration of death, a celebration is held to observe the deceased's ascension into heaven. This body of work marks the only type of closure that most family members will get from grieving their missing loved ones.