LIBERATION
20"x26" Hand Spray Painted Stencils on 100% Cotton Rag Paper
Hand Deckled Edges
Edition of 10
$250 + Shipping

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Hey everyone! Im really excited to let you all know about what I’ve been working on. I decided to take it back to my roots and start to make spray painted stencil works on paper like I did when I was a teenager, of coarse my technique and skills where not as clean then but the essence of is the same. My dad first showed me how to use stencils to paint in graphics at the age of 8 and my grandfather bought me a bootleg exacto blade for my 9th birthday, and since then my love of the craft has grown exponentially.
Since we haven’t dropped a screen print in a while I decided to start making these very small editions of 100% spray painted stencil prints. The edition is of 10 and they are painted on %100 Cotton Rag Paper. We even went the extra mile to hand deckle each print to make it extra fancy.

This image is titled LIBERATION. I often think about think about the reason why I don’t speak any of my original indigenous languages that my ancestors spoke. I wonder what I am missing out on in terms of food, cultural nuances, dance, music, virtues, knowledge etc. Sometimes I can’t help but to become frustrated and feel resentment against the dominant society. If I allow that resentment to gain momentum and take up too much space in my head I realize that I am also resentful against myself for being a part of western culture and living within it. Self hate often leads me to become depressed or just angry in general so I try and steer clear of self hate even when I face my contradictions. Instead of allowing that resent and anger to fester I try and do something to connect or heal with my indigenous roots even if its a small. Sometimes I might pray with sage, cook with traditional ingredients, or sometimes I might go hang out with my mentor. One of the main reasons I love to create art is because I get to express these anxieties of lost while at the same time reclaiming and healing what has been lost. Creating work has become a therapeutic process for me. When I don’t make art for a while I completely feel trapped with anger and frustration towards the state of the world. When i express myself I feel liberated. In these moments of feeling liberated is when my mind is at peace and I am able to make sense of some complex situations at least for myself. Recently while in this peaceful state of mind I revisited the question of “why I don’t speak any of my original indigenous languages that my ancestors spoke?” The obvious answer is of coarse through violent Colonization and forced assimilation. When I started to think deeper about this I started to wonder about my last ancestor who still lived a traditional life and decided to put that traditional life on pause as a means of survival and possibly a way of protecting their children and family. Its pretty dark to think of that and it definitely makes me sad that they had to go through that. I wonder what I would do if I where in their predicament. I wonder what I would do if I had a family and all of the sudden we got taken over by a violent colonial occupation and my options where either assimilate or fight back and possibly die and put my family in danger. I know in most cases I would see the option to assimilate as cowardice but if there are children involved I understand the sacrifice. I understand why some of our ancestors did what they had to do in order to not be completely vanished. Deep in my heart I truly believe that our ancestors who where faced with this situation and chose to put our traditions and culture on pause in order to survive did so with a wish or a prayer. I believe their prayer went something like this “We have to put our traditions on hold in order to survive but I pray that once it is safe to do so that our descendants will recover what they can of our traditions and life their life in a indigenous way.” I BELIEVE THAT WE ARE THOSE DESCENDANTS. In many ways the coast is clear now. It is no loner illegal to participate in traditional ceremonies as it once was. It is no longer illegal to speak indigenous languages in public. This does not mean that white supremacy is not in full effect in our society but a acknowledgement of the progress that has been made by peoples movements. I know a lot of folks who are answering to the call of their ancestors wishes to reclaim and restore indigenous ideals and traditions. Everyone answers to that call in their own way. I picture our ancestors hanging out in another world or dimension just enjoying themselves and thriving. I can feel them still trying to guide us. I can feel them being free and speaking in their traditional languages. Eating traditional meals with recipes that we not longer have access to. I feel them being Liberated from oppression and colonization living in a world that does not limit their imagination. In this piece our ancestors are represented by the EAGLE. This piece is a celebration of our ancestors LIBERATION. If they can be liberated so will we. Thanks-e