A Chilean-American artist's work is on display at City Lights Gallery in Bridgeport during Hispanic Heritage Month.

Carlos Bautista Biernay is an American artist originally from Chile who stitches his personal life experiences into textile collages.

He says each stitch represents how he has been impacted by major events in recent history.

As a child, Biernay says he witnessed a military coup in Chile under the leadership of General Augusto Pinochet which ended civilian rule and replaced it with a totalitarian regime.

Biernay eventually fled his homeland, moved to the U.S. at 23 and became an American citizen who later witnessed 9/11.

Against the backdrop of all the violence he has seen, Biernay says he has embraced the dada art movement, and vowed to reject war, nationalism and all forms of violence.

Biernay points to the 1972 film "Cabaret" as a great inspiration for his artwork. It depicts the early 20th century period in Berlin when the avant-garde movement dadaism was born.

He says the satirical movement, born out of the horrors of war, is what his artwork is all about.