Ruddy Mejia was sitting in a compact studio in the South Bronx, putting the finishing touches on a set of small, brightly colored brass foil plates embossed with images of body parts.

His take on popular Mexican religious charms, or “milagros,” they draw from a tradition of toiling for hours to indent an image — a heart, leg or other body part that needs healing — into a plate of metal.

They are about sacrificing “time, and your hands, in order to ask for a little prayer of help from beyond,” said Mejia, one of the 34 artists, all but one of whom are Latino immigrants or children of immigrants, in a new exhibition, “¡Te Amo Porque S.O.S. Pueblo!,” at the BronxArtSpace.

The exhibition is intended as a celebration of immigrants in a time of crackdowns and deportations. It is also a form of outreach, offering access to legal resources and advocacy groups, and a chance to connect with other immigrant artists in the South Bronx, where the population is majority Latino and nearly one-third foreign-born.

“Emotions are running very high,” Mejia, 36, said. “There’s a lot of fear. I wanted to create something that resembles what that feels like.”

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