0:00:04.915,0:00:06.598
(birds singing)

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(ukulele strums)

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(birds singing)

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(ukulele strums)

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Growing up on the border,

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I didn't know that art was something

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that I could do to sustain myself.

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There's not a lot of art

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that seems accessible[br]to working class people.

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Why does art have to be so hierarchical?

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Why does it have to be such a narrow view

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of what humanity actually is,

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and what humanity is[br]actually experiencing?

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-I would cut the tape...

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That's how I got into[br]studying furniture design.

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I really just wanted to do something

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that was more working class,

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but still artistic.

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Learning how to work with wood and metal

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seemed like a very worthwhile thing.

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I could have a physical[br]and emotional outlet.

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But also, my dad could[br]look at something and say,

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"Oh my god, you're a really good welder."

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- [Father, in Spanish] Good morning!

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- [Mother, in Spanish] Good morning!

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- [Father, in Spanish] I would like a seafood taco.

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- [Aguiñiga, in Spanish] Do you want one too, Mom?

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- [Mother, in Spanish] Yes.

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(ukulele strums)

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[Aguiñiga] When I studied craft,

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you knew the lineage of who taught who

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three, four generations down.

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You knew everybody you studied with.

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Like, "Oh, this person makes work this way

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because they learned from this master."

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Which is something that[br]I think a lot of us,

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whose parents migrated,

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don't have.

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We don't have lineages.

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I know my grandma's name, and that's it.

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It's kind of this really nice thing

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to connect you back to[br]different types of

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histories and traditions.

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I ended up studying under Wendy Maruyama,

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a really amazing Japanese-American[br]woman, who's deaf,

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who was one of the first women

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to get a Master's in furniture design,

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and makes a lot of really provocative work

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about identity and gender.

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(birds singing)

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(soft instrumental music)

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By having educators[br]that I could relate to,

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that I could kind of[br]see part of my struggles

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with identity mirrored in,

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helped me flip a switch[br]that led to where I am now.

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Learning about fiber,

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learning about fabric,

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learning about textiles,

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helps you take ownership

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of how you present yourself to the world.

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Once you learn how to[br]make your own fabric,

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make your own clothes,

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you will be a lot more self-sufficient,

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but also have authorship of self.

0:02:57.823,0:03:01.387
(soft instrumental music)

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(traffic whirls)

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(soft xylophone music)

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I think art can offer different ways

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of getting to an answer.

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It can offer different possibilities.

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Generative space.

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Power over your own identity.

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(soft xylophone music)

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For a lot of us that are marginalized,

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or seen as others,

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we can explore different[br]ways of telling our stories.

0:03:46.176,0:03:49.426
(soft xylophone music)

0:03:53.866,0:03:56.760
(car horn honks)

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(soft xylophone music)