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[New York Close Up]

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Being in the Whitney Biennial[br]is really interesting right now

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because of my background as a[br]Latino queer artist.

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[Ridgewood, Queens]

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Essentially, I'm showing in[br]"the museum of American art"

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and I'm from Mexican descent,

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but, you know, what does that mean today?

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And what that'll mean for tomorrow...

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I don't know.

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[Raúl de Nieves is an American Artist]

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I'm listening to a lot of techno right now.

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It's so that I can keep the momentum.

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I never try to be a perfectionist[br]with my work.

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I've always wanted to make stained glass,

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and I feel like it's a little heavy, you know?

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So this makes it lighter

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and I can do it anywhere I want.

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Sometimes my friends come over[br]and we, like, chill out.

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[LAUGHS]

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And they'll watch me cut[br]a bunch of paper together.

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[LAUGHS]

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I grew in Morelia, Michoacán.

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Growing up in Mexico was really magical

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because I got to see a lot of forms of celebration.

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I got to experience death[br]as a really young child.

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That's what my work is about:

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it's like seeing the facets[br]of happiness and sadness

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all in one place.

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Color was such an embedded part of my life

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that I always saw things[br]as bright as they could be.

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The most interesting part about this[br]to me is

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you can make something[br]out of the simplest things

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and it can translate into a different reality.

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Not knowing how it's going to turn out

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is extremely exciting.

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Because I'm just anticipating...

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Um...

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the day I get to put this up

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and see what it does.

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--Holy shit!

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[SCREAMS]

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--Hi guys.

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--[ALL] Hi!

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--How's it going?

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Oh my god, this is so crazy!

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[BREATHES OUT]

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It really hits the wall!

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Oh my god,

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this is so cool.

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[ALL LAUGH]

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This is so cool!

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[DE NIEVES SCREAMS]

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--Okay, should we start moving these things...

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--[MIA LOCKS] Yeah.

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--[DE NIEVES] Okay, cool!

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--So, I'm picturing the orange one...

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My mom had already been[br]living in the United States

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for about two months.

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One day, my aunt came to pick us up from school,

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and she said, "You're going to America.[br]Let's go."

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And we got on a plane without a bag.

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--This woman is supposed to go right here.

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--She's kind of like going, like...

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--Yeah, like this.

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--[LOCKS] What would you like[br]the posture to be?

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--[DE NIEVES] Well, I mean, I wish it was[br]a little bit more animated,

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--because that looks so real with these, like,[br]hands in the air.

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--But, I figured even if it could[br]just be like...

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That day that I got into a plane,

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knowing that I didn't have any belongings,

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a lot of things went through my head.

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I was obviously scared,

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because I was nine years old[br]and couldn't speak English.

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[Mia Locks, Curator]

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But I knew that I would be able to survive.

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And that I just have to trust

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what ever life was going to bring me next.

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--But,

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--can a viewer come right here?

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--Is that illegal?

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--I mean...

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Creating this narrative,

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with all these figures and symbols--

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just taking what I've learned from experiences

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and being able to put it in one image--

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is really important for me right now.

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The first panel in the stained-glass mural

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is of a person in sickness.

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He is challenging his mentality

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to turn from bad to good--

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or is asking for help.

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And then it trickles down to

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a personal fight.

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Defeat is really important.

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It should be somewhat of a struggle to continue.

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I think the fly is actually the core of life.

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It's constantly watching--

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you know, it's like a secret.

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At the end, I want it to be[br]a celebration of life.

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--[INTERVIEWER, OFF SCREEN] You're 33?

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[DE NIEVES] I'm 33!

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Yeah.

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My dad died when he was 33.

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My dad died when I was two years old,

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but I feel like he's closer to me now than...

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ever.

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I mean, I don't know,

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but his remembrance allows me to

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keep going.

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It feels more of a gift.

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To me, it symbolizes my dad's spirit.

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My grandfather.

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My grandmother.

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My own personal spirit.

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It's a celebration of my mom's courage

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to bring me to this country.

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She had to do it for her and three other kids.

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I always believed that the United States

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was the land of all nations,

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and I guess I'm starting to realize

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that's not completely true.

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The mural talks about this experience--

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this journey.

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I feel really happy that I could put[br]so much emphasis

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on this idea of "a better tomorrow"[br]in my artwork.

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The fact that there are so many[br]diverse groups in this exhibition

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is really important.

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And hopefully it reminds people that

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this is 2017.

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We don't want to go back in time--

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we want to move forward.