(Photo: Courtesy of Margarita Cabrera/Sara Meltzer Gallery)

Goofy-looking though it may be, Margarita Cabrera’s life-size Hummer H2 is hardly more ridiculous than the vehicle that inspired it. And it’s way more politically correct: The El Paso, Texas, artist stitched it up from pieces of sagging vinyl, paying homage both to Claes Oldenburg and to the assembly-plant laborers just south of the border. Although they’re less commanding, Cabrera’s other new works—translucent fabric backpacks and cacti made from border-patrol uniforms, all inspired by the journeys of illegal immigrants—are just as timely. “All of a sudden, my work had a different energy,” says Cabrera, referring to the immigration debate. “I felt the pressure to really do it justice.” (At Sara Meltzer through May 13.)

Related:

• Archive: “Theater Features”
• Articles by Karen Rosenberg
• Table of Contents: May 8, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!