Artwork / Archives / Apple Pie / Ellis Island Pilgrim (Bosnian-American, Dino)
Ellis Island Pilgrim (Bosnian-American, Dino)
2008
acrylic on canvas
24 x 30 inches
I asked each of the participants in Apple Pie to write something about what it means to be an American. This is Dino’s response.
For me being an American has several meanings. One and most important is that people in American society do not judge you by the way you look but by the way you talk and act in your life. The flexibility in life and the variety of the life styles are great opportunity for everybody in America to find it self.
America is the land of opportunities for everybody who knows what he/she wants. Little bit of luck, lot of effort and good will can make anybody to live the life they dreamed about.
From the beginning, I knew that one of the portraits for Apple Pie would have to touch on the Mayflower. As a kid, I was always struck by the way our national creation myth was presented to us every November, rife with historical errors and always wearing a headdress made of construction paper. I wanted this utterly American experience to be represented in Apple Pie, so I asked Dino, an immigrant from Bosnia, how he would feel about being a modern-day Pilgrim.
