0:00:09.175,0:00:11.761 I think we're going to make[br]some calabacitas. 0:00:11.761,0:00:12.387 Okay. 0:00:12.387,0:00:15.265 We have Oaxaca cheese. 0:00:15.265,0:00:19.769 In my region, you can't forget[br]about tacos and tortillas. 0:00:20.228,0:00:21.479 What do you want me to do? 0:00:21.896,0:00:23.440 We have to wash them. 0:00:23.690,0:00:25.233 Should I wash the zucchinis? 0:00:26.026,0:00:27.694 Let's wash them. 0:00:34.492,0:00:36.119 I was starting out my career, 0:00:36.119,0:00:39.164 and you were one of [br]the first people who 0:00:39.164,0:00:40.915 I started painting from life, 0:00:40.915,0:00:44.169 because you were very patient and[br]you sat there a thousand times. 0:00:44.210,0:00:48.214 I ended up painting your [br]daughter and all your family. 0:00:48.631,0:00:54.012 I think art is also a way[br]to gain more confidence. 0:00:54.220,0:00:59.684 It depicts a more colorful life. 0:00:59.684,0:01:02.687 I think it helps me to be in harmony. 0:01:02.687,0:01:04.606 The colors-- 0:01:04.647,0:01:06.733 I think it transforms us. 0:01:26.294,0:01:28.880 There's one family, Verónica and Marissa, 0:01:28.880,0:01:30.048 that I've painted 0:01:30.340,0:01:31.299 over the years. 0:01:31.299,0:01:34.511 Now my relationship with them[br]has extended over 10 years. 0:01:36.971,0:01:40.141 You can sit there, more or less, [br]like the face-- 0:01:40.433,0:01:42.977 I'm trying to replicate[br]this when you were laying down 0:01:42.977,0:01:44.854 with your mom at your home. 0:01:45.313,0:01:47.148 I think that was how the face-- 0:01:47.148,0:01:49.109 Is that tall enough for you? 0:02:01.037,0:02:06.793 This body of work is revisiting Marissa[br]and Verónica in their home in Queens. 0:02:10.964,0:02:14.300 Revisiting that couch that [br]I painted Marissa in with her father 0:02:14.300,0:02:15.301 many years ago, 0:02:18.680,0:02:23.143 with her mom and their papel picado,[br]and all their accouterments 0:02:23.143,0:02:24.144 of their living room. 0:02:30.775,0:02:32.902 Because we live[br]in a one-bedroom apartment, 0:02:32.902,0:02:35.613 my parents would mostly sleep[br]outside in the living room 0:02:35.613,0:02:38.074 because they didn't want to let [br]me sleep on the sofa. 0:02:38.616,0:02:42.662 Even though our space is very limited[br]and it's very small sometimes, 0:02:42.662,0:02:44.914 it's filled with a lot of joy. 0:02:46.624,0:02:51.796 The music sheet on the stand[br]has songs written in Náhuatl. 0:02:52.255,0:02:54.507 That speaker is my mom's best friend. 0:02:55.216,0:02:59.387 She blasts music at home,[br]and then she also takes it to the park 0:02:59.387,0:03:02.098 for her bailoterapia classes. 0:03:02.891,0:03:05.435 My mom really loves the bicycle. 0:03:06.019,0:03:09.105 Her mom would always criticize her,[br]telling her that's something 0:03:09.105,0:03:11.065 that a man does. 0:03:11.733,0:03:16.196 For her, it's also a form of resistance,[br]knowing that she can really go anywhere. 0:03:17.280,0:03:23.119 I feel like whenever I get together with Veronica, [br]we talk about Marissa non-stop. 0:03:23.286,0:03:26.414 because your mom and I are [br]both so proud of your 0:03:26.414,0:03:28.208 being in college at Cornell. 0:03:29.167,0:03:32.003 No, but I'm actually very proud of her 0:03:32.003,0:03:34.339 because she's one of my biggest inspirations. 0:03:43.348,0:03:47.143 I think one of my earliest memories[br]is actually drawing with my mother, 0:03:47.143,0:03:48.519 drawing dancers with her. 0:03:48.978,0:03:52.607 Her pencil moving is one[br]of my earliest recollections of art. 0:03:53.524,0:03:55.235 I grew up in Mexico City. 0:03:55.693,0:04:00.490 My grandfather came from Belorussia[br]to Mexico when he was three 0:04:00.490,0:04:04.702 and my mother arrived to Mexico[br]to study Art History. 0:04:07.121,0:04:09.540 There's a saying in Spanish,[br]"Ni de aquí ni de allá," 0:04:09.540,0:04:11.751 which means you're neither from[br]here nor from there 0:04:11.751,0:04:14.963 because I was always half Mexican,[br]half American. 0:04:14.963,0:04:17.966 I grew up speaking English [br]with my mother in Mexico. 0:04:20.927,0:04:24.430 I had the privilege of being[br]an American citizen. 0:04:24.430,0:04:28.768 I didn't have the fear that a lot[br]of immigrants have here, 0:04:28.768,0:04:30.937 that might not have papers. 0:04:33.106,0:04:38.236 I moved to the Midwest, to Chicago,[br]to study art at the Art Institute of Chicago. 0:04:39.529,0:04:43.074 I went through a period in grad school[br]where I was an abstract painter. 0:04:46.160,0:04:47.495 Then I moved to New York. 0:04:47.495,0:04:50.248 I started to make[br]these little still-life paintings. 0:04:50.248,0:04:54.877 They were inspired by street vendors[br]in Mexico with flower arrangements. 0:04:56.129,0:04:58.172 I started studying psychology. 0:04:58.172,0:05:02.969 This one philosopher, Emmanuel Levinas,[br]talks about how all ethics comes 0:05:02.969,0:05:04.595 from the face-to-face relationship. 0:05:05.263,0:05:09.684 The encounter with another person[br]that elicits an ethical demand. 0:05:09.684,0:05:13.062 That ended up coming into my work,[br]this idea of sitting 0:05:13.062,0:05:16.065 with somebody face-to-face[br]and painting them from life. 0:05:17.775,0:05:20.153 A lot of painting,[br]because of its materiality 0:05:20.153,0:05:23.323 and because of its gesture[br]and texture, almost feels like the presence 0:05:23.323,0:05:24.490 of another person. 0:05:25.491,0:05:28.411 I love capturing a moment[br]when a person might be lost 0:05:28.411,0:05:31.706 in their own thoughts and imagining[br]what their interiority might be. 0:05:32.582,0:05:35.209 Depicting people in moments[br]of contemplation 0:05:35.209,0:05:36.961 where they're for themselves. 0:05:38.129,0:05:42.467 I was always torn between whether I wanted[br]to be a social worker or a painter. 0:05:42.467,0:05:46.554 I feel like it took all my life[br]pretty much up to this point 0:05:46.554,0:05:49.724 where I've integrated both of [br]those things in some ways. 0:05:55.104,0:05:59.650 I met Aliza through IMI,[br]Immigrant Movement International, 0:06:00.360,0:06:02.653 back when I was 12 years old. 0:06:02.653,0:06:04.113 It was a long time ago. 0:06:04.322,0:06:07.241 Welcome to this-- 0:06:07.241,0:06:09.786 Tania is this Cuban artist. 0:06:09.911,0:06:12.538 She founded Immigrant[br]Movement International. 0:06:15.083,0:06:17.794 The first movement called “Prelude.” 0:06:17.794,0:06:21.047 My mom got really involved[br]and then started taking some classes 0:06:21.047,0:06:22.006 with Aliza. 0:06:24.175,0:06:29.806 I think it was 2012 when[br]I first met Tania Bruguera and 0:06:29.806,0:06:33.976 I was so moved by her project[br]that I told her I wanted 0:06:33.976,0:06:37.271 to participate somehow and I[br]wanted to teach a class. 0:06:37.271,0:06:40.691 She told me that what was most[br]needed were English skills, 0:06:40.691,0:06:45.905 so I devised a class that was basically[br]for a group of women, like English 0:06:45.905,0:06:48.116 through art history. 0:06:48.116,0:06:50.410 A lot of it ended up being[br]feminist art history 0:06:50.410,0:06:52.328 because it's what they were[br]asking me about. 0:06:52.662,0:06:57.708 I'll never forget that it was[br]because of the class I took with you 0:06:57.708,0:06:59.752 on how to learn English 0:06:59.752,0:07:01.629 through Frida's story. 0:07:01.754,0:07:07.218 It was through art that I began[br]to grasp some English words. 0:07:09.178,0:07:12.932 I got so interested in the[br]people's stories that I asked Tania 0:07:12.932,0:07:16.185 if I could set up a makeshift[br]studio in one little corner 0:07:16.185,0:07:18.020 and I'd leave my paintings overnight. 0:07:18.020,0:07:21.566 I'd come back and depict[br]every person in my class. 0:07:23.609,0:07:27.780 And then I started to depict[br]their extended families as well. 0:07:30.032,0:07:32.160 Just being able to walk into that space, 0:07:32.743,0:07:34.036 feeling supported. 0:07:34.036,0:07:35.913 My parent’s immigration status, 0:07:35.913,0:07:39.208 they would go in looking for support. 0:07:39.333,0:07:41.169 I think it was also a place that brought 0:07:41.169,0:07:42.170 a lot of hope. 0:07:48.759,0:07:52.555 Things have still continued[br]beyond the physical space, 0:07:53.055,0:07:55.725 like Mobile Print Power,[br]which is an art collective 0:07:55.725,0:07:59.020 that I'm still part of til this day. 0:08:02.690,0:08:06.486 And Mujeres en Movimiento that[br]my mom is still doing. 0:08:09.030,0:08:11.824 I just had this desire to learn, 0:08:12.033,0:08:15.620 never imagining that I'd be the one[br]to stick around afterward, 0:08:15.620,0:08:19.415 self-guiding with videos,[br]and then finding myself dancing there. 0:08:19.415,0:08:22.126 Fellow colleagues,[br]mothers who would tell me, 0:08:22.126,0:08:25.296 “You can do it, yes, you nailed it,[br]you danced beautifully.” 0:08:25.296,0:08:28.758 I was a little embarrassed. 0:08:31.469,0:08:36.641 I loved breaking those stigmas,[br]those stereotypes, 0:08:36.641,0:08:38.768 those insecurities. 0:08:42.396,0:08:45.733 Ever since I moved here from Mexico,[br]I've been living in Corona. 0:08:48.194,0:08:51.405 My dad and sisters were already here, 0:08:51.405,0:08:55.076 but I was sad leaving my mom[br]and my community 0:08:55.076,0:08:56.661 and not knowing anyone here. 0:08:57.245,0:09:00.248 Adapting was a challenge. 0:09:02.833,0:09:06.128 I feel like I started to connect[br]with the community 0:09:06.128,0:09:08.214 when Marissa began school. 0:09:09.423,0:09:13.094 Reach out, connect with more [br]people or in places 0:09:13.094,0:09:16.722 like schools, libraries, or museums. 0:09:19.225,0:09:22.436 I don't say this thinking, [br]“I've done all of this myself.” 0:09:22.436,0:09:26.482 It’s been the strength of[br]a warrior community. 0:09:31.279,0:09:34.991 It's very special to come back[br]to Queens almost 10 years 0:09:34.991,0:09:36.867 after the Immigrant[br]Movement International, 0:09:36.867,0:09:39.745 to be in residence at the Queens Museum. 0:09:40.621,0:09:44.333 I reverted back to the class[br]I was teaching at IMI. 0:09:44.750,0:09:47.503 There's a group of women [br]that lead a food pantry 0:09:47.503,0:09:50.631 that every Wednesday gets[br]distributed in the museum. 0:09:50.631,0:09:53.676 And so I wanted to do[br]something for these volunteers. 0:09:55.886,0:10:00.516 Every Tuesday night I'm teaching a class[br]through art-making this time, 0:10:01.017,0:10:03.352 and I've taught them drawing and painting. 0:10:04.645,0:10:06.689 Ready? Let’s get started. 0:10:07.315,0:10:11.861 Today is the last class[br]where we'll all be together, 0:10:12.361,0:10:15.031 taking a look at all the pieces[br]we've crafted over the semester. 0:10:15.114,0:10:17.199 We call it the Group Critique. 0:10:17.241,0:10:18.117 Group Critique. 0:10:18.117,0:10:20.328 I've named mine “Mi Libertad” (My Freedom). 0:10:20.328,0:10:23.873 When I was going through[br]some really tough times, 0:10:23.873,0:10:27.376 I loved running through [br]the countryside on horseback. 0:10:28.377,0:10:34.592 The more I ran with the wind [br]whipping my face, the freer I felt. 0:10:34.592,0:10:35.926 It was as if I could fly. 0:10:36.344,0:10:40.473 Hence, I named it “My Freedom”[br]after a mare I had. 0:10:43.017,0:10:44.935 This painting is meant to represent 0:10:44.935,0:10:47.271 something quite simple[br]and straightforward: materialism. 0:10:47.438,0:10:49.357 We see fragments of banknotes, but why? 0:10:49.357,0:10:51.942 Because it destroys families,[br]it shatters homes. 0:10:52.109,0:10:54.779 We lose lives at the borders. 0:10:54.862,0:10:57.948 This country indeed welcomes us,[br]immensely so, 0:10:57.948,0:10:59.241 but it also separates us. 0:10:59.575,0:11:00.785 I have this next painting. 0:11:00.910,0:11:03.788 The next painting symbolizes the [br]endurance of Indigenous woman 0:11:03.788,0:11:06.457 because I am a descendant of the Cañaris. 0:11:08.209,0:11:10.419 Sometimes we are voices[br]that go unheard, 0:11:10.419,0:11:12.546 at times we are invisible. 0:11:12.838,0:11:17.051 But despite that, we are a[br]powerful force here in this country. 0:11:18.094,0:11:19.178 Thank you. 0:11:20.721,0:11:24.225 When you have that sense of agency[br]of expressing yourself. 0:11:24.225,0:11:27.687 You can also share resources[br]with each other and feel a sense 0:11:27.687,0:11:29.980 of empowerment in that community. 0:11:31.691,0:11:34.276 For people to really feel[br]like they can use the museum 0:11:34.276,0:11:35.319 as a resource 0:11:35.319,0:11:37.655 and as a space that's really for them. 0:11:41.117,0:11:44.912 I also am interested in[br]the structural economy of paintings 0:11:44.912,0:11:46.997 and I've done profit sharing 0:11:46.997,0:11:48.165 when I work with a community 0:11:48.165,0:11:50.876 or with a particular individual[br]over a long period of time. 0:11:52.294,0:11:56.465 With this particular family, I gave them the [br]first paintings that I made of them 0:11:56.465,0:11:59.218 and they were able to [br]benefit later on from that. 0:12:01.303,0:12:03.764 I work as a housekeeper, 0:12:03.764,0:12:07.226 but that wasn't enough for me [br]to get by for one year 0:12:07.226,0:12:10.020 or some months[br]during the pandemic. 0:12:10.020,0:12:13.941 The gallery was able to provide us with[br]money so that we could pull through. 0:12:13.941,0:12:15.484 For me, that was a relief, Aliza. 0:12:15.484,0:12:16.986 I’ll never forget it. 0:12:29.206,0:12:30.458 Do you know who is there? 0:12:30.458,0:12:31.959 Who is it? 0:12:31.959,0:12:33.377 Do you see yourself? 0:12:41.218,0:12:43.262 I believe that creating spaces 0:12:43.262,0:12:48.058 where we practice art[br]or make art 0:12:48.058,0:12:50.227 is a way to connect. 0:12:50.227,0:12:51.604 It is the most beautiful way. 0:12:55.232,0:12:59.987 Being with this community here,[br]it’s like finding a home in a way. 0:13:02.615,0:13:05.409 Aliza, hello! 0:13:06.076,0:13:07.745 So nice to see you. 0:13:11.999,0:13:15.920 The biggest resource we have is[br]these relationships and the communities 0:13:15.920,0:13:17.254 that have continued. 0:13:18.881,0:13:21.801 Your resources are your [br]people around you.