1
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(birds singing)

2
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(ukulele strums)

3
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(birds singing)

4
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(ukulele strums)

5
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Growing up on the border,

6
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I didn't know that art was something

7
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that I could do to sustain myself.

8
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There's not a lot of art

9
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that seems accessible
to working class people.

10
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Why does art have to be so hierarchical?

11
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Why does it have to be such a narrow view

12
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of what humanity actually is,

13
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and what humanity is
actually experiencing?

14
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-I would cut the tape...

15
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That's how I got into
studying furniture design.

16
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I really just wanted to do something

17
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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

20
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seemed like a very worthwhile thing.

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I could have a physical
and emotional outlet.

22
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But also, my dad could
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.

29
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(ukulele strums)

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[Aguiñiga] When I studied craft,

31
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you knew the lineage of who taught who

32
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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

35
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because they learned from this master."

36
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Which is something that
I think a lot of us,

37
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whose parents migrated,

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don't have.

39
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We don't have lineages.

40
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I know my grandma's name, and that's it.

41
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It's kind of this really nice thing

42
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to connect you back to
different types of

43
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histories and traditions.

44
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I ended up studying under Wendy Maruyama,

45
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a really amazing Japanese-American
woman, who's deaf,

46
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who was one of the first women

47
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to get a Master's in furniture design,

48
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and makes a lot of really provocative work

49
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about identity and gender.

50
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(birds singing)

51
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(soft instrumental music)

52
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By having educators
that I could relate to,

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that I could kind of
see part of my struggles

54
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with identity mirrored in,

55
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helped me flip a switch
that led to where I am now.

56
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Learning about fiber,

57
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learning about fabric,

58
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learning about textiles,

59
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helps you take ownership

60
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of how you present yourself to the world.

61
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Once you learn how to
make your own fabric,

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make your own clothes,

63
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you will be a lot more self-sufficient,

64
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but also have authorship of self.

65
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(soft instrumental music)

66
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(traffic whirls)

67
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(soft xylophone music)

68
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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.

73
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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
ways of telling our stories.

77
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(soft xylophone music)

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(car horn honks)

79
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(soft xylophone music)