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Karen Rose

Immigration

I have been documenting the landscapes of all the immigration detention centers in the country. I am using historical satellite and street view imagery as reference and recreated these drawings on board, removing the centers another step from their current existence.

West 40 of 160 Immigration Detention Center Landscapes, 2026 watercolor, watercolor pencil and chalk pastel on paper 36 x 52" total wall installation Based on historic satellite and street view images.

West 100 of 160 Immigration Detention Center Landscapes, 2026 watercolor, watercolor pencil and chalk pastel on paper 36 x 120" total wall installation Based on historic satellite and street view images.

Persepolis 1, West 40 watercolor, color pencil and pastel on board 16 x 12" 2026 I reproduced my West 40 immigration detention center landscape drawings based on historical satellite and street view imagery into one abstracted and unified landscape, removing the centers another step from their current existence.

Persepolis 2, Mid West 40 (Mostly Texas) Immigration Detention Center Landscapes watercolor, color pencil and pastel on board 16 x 12" 2026 I reproduced my midwest 40 immigration detention center landscape drawings based on historical satellite and street view imagery into one abstracted and unified landscape, removing the centers another step from their current existence.

Persepolis 3, South 40 Immigration Detention Center Landscapes watercolor, color pencil and pastel on board 16 x 12" 2026 I reproduced my south 40 immigration detention center landscape drawings based on historical satellite and street view imagery into one abstracted and unified landscape, removing the centers another step from their current existence.

Persepolis 4, North East 40 Immigration Detention Center Landscapes watercolor and color pencil on board 16 x 12" 2026 I reproduced my north east 40 immigration detention center landscape drawings based on historical satellite and street view imagery into one abstracted and unified landscape, removing the centers another step from their current existence.

Alligator Alcatraz, 2025 oil, acrylic and pastel on canvas 34 x 48" Google earth plant reference near this immigration detention center in the Everglades. "Thirty-two bodies crammed per cage, six cages per tent. People screaming 'Help me, I'm a U.S. citizen.' Drinking water pumped from the same toilet they're forced to use. It's filth, it's cruelty, it's America's name on the door." - Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost

Three NC Landscapes Under Consideration (Winton, Concord, Greensboro), 2026 oil, acrylic and pastel on canvas 48 x 34" Based on historical satellite imagery before the existing structures were built. Winton (underway - https://www.wunc.org/race-class-communities/2026-07-24/ice-open-immigration-detention-center-rivers-correctional-hertford-rural-nc), Concord and Greensboro (formerly the American Hebrew Academy) according to the ACLU, the Charlotte Observer and the NY Times.

Hendersonville Hold, 2026 acrylic and pastel on canvas 15 x 20" North Carolina currently has three holding rooms where people are processed and then often transferred without a trace away from their lawyers and families. Based on historical satellite imagery of the land before the detention centers were built.

Cary Hold, 2026 acrylic and pastel on canvas 15 x 20" North Carolina currently has three holding rooms where people are processed and then often transferred without a trace away from their lawyers and families. Based on historical satellite imagery of the land before the detention centers were built.

Charlotte Hold, 2026 acrylic and pastel on canvas 15 x 20" North Carolina currently has three holding rooms where people are processed and then often transferred without a trace away from their lawyers and families. Based on historical satellite imagery of the land before the detention centers were built.

Volcano, 2026 oil, acrylic and pastel on canvas 48 x 64" diptych San Vicente volcano in El Salvador is the site of the notorious CECOT detention center where we have deported hundreds of young men. Erased the prison and inverted the colors of the sky and land since we are living in the upside down world.

Angel Island, 2025 oil, acrylic, pastel on canvas 36 x 48" View from my studio window, painted without the former immigration center, now a museum. "While the exact number is unknown, estimates suggest that between 1910 and 1940, the station processed up to one million Asian and other immigrants, including 250,000 Chinese and 150,000 Japanese ...Thousands of immigrants detained on Angel Island endured the station's prison-like environment." - NPS website. Also served as a Japanese internment camp during WWII. Painted with the color palette of the American flag, striped water, and stars layered under the fog.

Alcatraz, 2025 oil acrylic and pastel on canvas 36 x 48" Reimagined before it was a Civil War fortress, military prison, federal prison, bird sanctuary, the first lighthouse on the West Coast, occupied by Indians of all Tribes 1969-1971, now a National Historic Landmark and contemplated as a future immigration detention center. Behind it is Angel Island which was host to a Japanese internment camp during WWII and prior to that was the largest immigration center on the West coast, interning thousands of mostly Asian immigrants in a "prison-like" environment.

Escape from Alcatraz (Dia de los Muertos), 2025 acrylic and pastel on canvas 24 x 36" Here I imagined Alcatraz before it was a Civil War fortress, military prison, federal prison, bird sanctuary, the first lighthouse on the West Coast, occupied by Indians of all Tribes 1969-1971, now a National Historic Landmark and contemplated as a future immigration detention center. Color palette of my favorite graveyard in Mexico.

Fort Bliss, 2025 oil, acrylic and pastel on canvas 20 x 24"