Emilio and Susan are immigrants to America. They are of different generations and different histories but late arrivals to America in the broad sense.

Emilio Martinez

Emilio came from Honduras at a very young age, brought with his brothers by his mother. His experience as a poor, non-English speaking child was personified by his cheap shoes, which were the subject of taunts by his classmates. Shoes were a source of shame and an incredible yearning to be part of his new country by having beautiful shoes, shiny and red.

This young immigrant carried within him a mind filled with fears of a new land and fables and stories of the Honduran history of his childhood. His undeniable yearning to become an artist allowed him to materialize his thoughts into all manner of creatures onto the shoes, into frames, and on and off the walls.

Susan Miller

Susan is the child of immigrant parents that came to America in the early 1920s from Germany. She grew up channeling her parents’ desire to blend into their new country. Her vivid memories are that the accepted peers all had new shoes that were without scuffs.

Her young years experienced the strains of a house with extended family living through WWII in Germany. She has used her experiences as subject matter throughout her artistic career as a sculptor. The red shoes, as she presents them in collaboration with Emelio, are created using her clothing which carries her history and her reverence for shoes.

This collaboration is considered, by both artists, to carry the conceptual concepts of the struggle of integration into the American culture. The shoe is worn by the traveler to a strange destination. It is a symbol of affluence, fashion, and acceptance. The soles of shoes carry the stories of the traveler. The red color is vibrancy, life, and blood.

At present, Red Shoes of America consists of six finished works. The artists envision an exhibition of 10 works.