0:00:01.580,0:00:06.107
♪ soft uplifting music ♪

0:00:06.107,0:00:27.605
[welder crackling]

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♪ ethereal ambient music ♪

0:00:56.363,0:00:59.699
[Rose B. Simpson] There's something[br]so important about witnessing.

0:00:59.699,0:01:01.935
Anything is a witness,[br]even inanimate things --

0:01:01.935,0:01:04.434
or we consider inanimate things.

0:01:06.119,0:01:12.240
This is an idea I was working[br]out for a public art piece I'm working on where...

0:01:12.240,0:01:16.167
these sort of ancestor[br]beings are watching.

0:01:16.566,0:01:22.128
My art is basically taking a[br]moment of that experience.

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♪ uplifting ethereal music ♪

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I'm building these beings that[br]are then reflecting my process

0:01:33.653,0:01:35.459
back to me,

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but it's also going out[br]into the world and watching.

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♪♪♪

0:02:04.746,0:02:06.439
[Rose] That's that.

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I figured out if I use clay that's very thin, I have to be very present with the

0:02:20.700,0:02:22.918
process and I have to just do it.

0:02:22.918,0:02:25.544
You can't, like, go[br]back and fix it later and,

0:02:25.544,0:02:27.028
you know, carve stuff down.

0:02:27.028,0:02:28.699
It has no...

0:02:29.420,0:02:31.637
forgiveness, in a[br]sense; it is what it is.

0:02:31.637,0:02:33.308
So you have to just be with it.

0:02:33.308,0:02:36.244
So now that I started this,[br]I have to finish it today.

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This is New Mexico[br]Clay, where I get my clay.

0:02:39.607,0:02:42.008
I really like putting[br]different clays together,

0:02:42.008,0:02:44.276
just as a aesthetic,[br]but also the idea of, like,

0:02:44.276,0:02:47.245
we're all made up[br]of many different things,

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and we're trying to[br]understand ourselves and be...

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you know, compassionate and[br]graceful and accepting of all

0:02:56.487,0:02:58.621
the many things that we all are.

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Because I'm mixed blood, I[br]was always hyper-aware of how I

0:03:03.022,0:03:05.000
wasn't fitting in.

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And as a[br]multicultural two-spirit person,

0:03:07.748,0:03:10.829
I'm always navigating one[br]foot in two worlds. [laughs]

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And so, you know, the[br]clay gets to do that too.

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♪ ethereal ambient music ♪

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I'm trying to reveal our deep truth and [br]that deep truth is process,

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and so why would I hide?[br]Why would I hide that process?

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♪♪♪

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To allow it to have fingerprints[br]and to show the touching and the

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making, the making -- the actual[br]making of something --

0:03:38.711,0:03:41.459
is our power, right?[br]Is our greatness.

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That's why I love going to[br]ancestral homes or ruins, you know?

0:03:45.174,0:03:48.599
And seeing the[br]fingerprints in the plaster.

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It's like, "Whoa, those are my[br]ancestors' hands that were here

0:03:51.403,0:03:53.983
making just like[br]we make," you know?

0:03:55.229,0:03:59.889
Right now, we're here in Santa Clara [br]ancestral homelands.

0:03:59.889,0:04:03.593
My people were living here[br]between these mountain ranges

0:04:03.593,0:04:06.785
along this river for[br]thousands of years.

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This was our place long[br]before European contact.

0:04:11.519,0:04:16.224
It's considered a tri-cultural place,[br]where we have the Indigenous ancestry,

0:04:16.224,0:04:21.541
and then the Spanish, and also[br]the English-speaking colonizing.

0:04:21.715,0:04:26.280
Many of us are descendants of all [br]those things, like myself.

0:04:26.280,0:04:28.377
Still a lot of anger and hurt.

0:04:28.900,0:04:33.023
People are [br]navigating that inherited historical trauma.

0:04:33.496,0:04:37.884
But it's also home; I am[br]of this place very deeply.

0:04:38.557,0:04:39.392
— Yep.

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But you're not going to fall.

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So holding your hand is just [br]because I love you.

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See that right there?

0:04:49.395,0:04:52.013
So this was a big[br]reservoir right here.

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The water would come down. [br]Ancestors used to catch the water up here for drinking

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and stuff -- for farming, even.

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— So this rock used to be [br]a waterfall, Mom?

0:05:03.844,0:05:04.718
— Mm-hm.

0:05:06.360,0:05:09.034
I've been coming here since I was a kid.

0:05:09.034,0:05:10.620
— There you go, now try.

0:05:10.620,0:05:14.664
The proof of people's[br]bodies interacting with the place

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and old sites[br]where you see, like,

0:05:16.459,0:05:20.284
plaster still on the walls[br]and you see that handprint or, like,

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fingerprints in old[br]pottery shards or whatever,

0:05:22.862,0:05:26.708
it's like this very[br]relatable moment.

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This is ancestry in the making,[br]and we're in that, right?

0:05:31.722,0:05:37.405
We're given this line and[br]this heritage and this story to continue.

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♪ soft ambient music ♪

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-[Rose] 'Cause they're cute?[br]-[Cedar] Yes.

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[Roxanne] That's really good.

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[Cedar] I made a snail.[br][Rose] Hey, you made a snail!

0:05:50.824,0:05:53.291
That's cute![br]Look at its eyeballs.

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[Rose] The person I love to[br]make things the most with is my mom.

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She learned to[br]communicate through her clay,

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and she was given[br]clay through her mom;

0:06:04.641,0:06:07.065
it was a matrilineal gift.

0:06:07.065,0:06:09.010
♪♪♪

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[Roxanne] It's like we[br]leapfrog in a funny way,

0:06:11.821,0:06:14.612
because as she learned from me,[br]then I learned from her because

0:06:14.612,0:06:17.073
she tries[br]something I never tried.

0:06:17.073,0:06:22.672
It's quite a blessing to be able[br]to have a child [chuckles] that

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can walk the trail with you.

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♪♪♪

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[Rose] Whether we're[br]plastering a house or laying adobes

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or planting a field,[br]to be able to make work that's

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building a conversation[br]together is a really

0:06:44.699,0:06:47.606
beautiful tool that[br]we have to heal.

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I often think about[br]relationships within Indigenous world,

0:06:52.583,0:06:56.676
and we have this big[br]heart to exist and to empower ourselves

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and to change the narratives and express what it

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means to carry this story forth.

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♪ uplifting music ♪

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I kept making these[br]objects of empowerment.

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I made warriors for years that[br]were sort of in this state of being empowered and

0:07:18.120,0:07:22.894
and not being aggressive or [br]confrontational, but just -- boom -- in itself.

0:07:22.894,0:07:26.706
In that, we're transforming[br]that victim narrative.

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♪♪♪

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I think I'm looking[br]for that inside myself, and

0:07:33.646,0:07:38.039
the car was actually[br]inspired by growing up in

0:07:38.039,0:07:42.967
Española -- Española is the low[br]rider capital of the world --

0:07:43.964,0:07:47.960
seeing people who are very[br]disempowered in lots of ways but

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totally proud of their[br]experience and their car.

0:07:52.387,0:07:56.816
[engine rumbling]

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The love and energy they[br]put into this piece of art,

0:08:02.824,0:08:04.335
I remember[br]thinking, "When I grow up,

0:08:04.335,0:08:07.960
I want that feeling of being[br]complete and protected and whole

0:08:07.960,0:08:13.120
and I become that piece of art[br]and I'm carrying myself with pride."

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So when I came back from graduate school, I was like, "I'm gonna go find that."

0:08:17.770,0:08:20.000
And at that time, that looked[br]like "Oh, muscle cars;

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I need it to go real[br]fast and be real loud."

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♪ aggressive rock music ♪

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The base color is called "hot rod black," [br]which is a satin.

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I taped it off, and then I threw a glass clear on top, which is what gives it this

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kind of gloss versus matte.

0:08:56.205,0:08:59.870
The pattern is based off of[br]traditional patterns from this

0:08:59.870,0:09:01.411
area of pottery designs.

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We have, like, the[br]traveling spiral,

0:09:04.800,0:09:10.080
we have mountains and clouds,[br]and then we have feathers coming back here.

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It's rooted in this place, and[br]if you take it outside of this area,

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it doesn't[br]make much sense.

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♪ sensitive ambient music ♪

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I named her "Maria"[br]after Maria Martinez,

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who is a master potter and also an[br]innovator from San Ildefonso Pueblo.

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She developed the black-on-black style, and that is very, very, very specific

0:09:33.615,0:09:36.883
aesthetic color choice to this area.

0:09:38.229,0:09:42.248
♪♪♪

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I started doing performances I[br]was calling "Transformances"

0:09:51.187,0:09:54.546
'cause the intention[br]was to actually change.

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I was transforming.

0:09:57.823,0:10:02.452
I'm trying to evolve and[br]transform my perspective.

0:10:03.000,0:10:06.112
We were using the car[br]and taking up spaces, locking up roads,

0:10:06.112,0:10:10.986
and marching up with what I call "post-apocalyptic Indigenous regalia."

0:10:11.459,0:10:16.501
I put these subwoofers in the El Camino, [br]and I played a heartbeat

0:10:16.501,0:10:20.572
just super loud [br]-- gu-gung, gu-gung, gu-gung --

0:10:20.572,0:10:23.338
while we were walking, and the car--[br][mimics engine sound], right?

0:10:23.338,0:10:25.561
And then, this, like, gu-gung.

0:10:25.561,0:10:29.181
They closed off the streets and[br]we just walked slow with this car.

0:10:29.181,0:10:31.278
[engine revving]

0:10:32.279,0:10:35.790
You wanna get your,[br]like, adrenaline going.

0:10:35.790,0:10:38.389
It was like, "We're in[br]the post-apocalypse now,

0:10:38.389,0:10:40.564
we've experienced this[br]for hundreds of years.

0:10:40.564,0:10:44.596
Now look at us; we're just gonna claim [br]it, we're gonna be in it," right?

0:10:45.660,0:10:51.932
After my daughter came into my life, I did another "Transformance" in Las Vegas, Nevada

0:10:51.932,0:10:55.102
with a collaborator, Fawn Douglas,[br]who's Southern Paiute,

0:10:55.102,0:11:01.440
and we ended up taking up space with [br]our bodies very simply and meditatively,

0:11:01.440,0:11:03.715
and we ended up[br]not using the car.

0:11:03.715,0:11:05.262
♪ sensitive piano music ♪

0:11:05.262,0:11:08.912
I was carrying my daughter, and[br]there was two mothers and two daughters.

0:11:08.912,0:11:12.584
I realized that what empowerment[br]is looking like for me is

0:11:12.584,0:11:16.258
changing, and it actually is[br]changing from this genderqueer,

0:11:16.258,0:11:19.632
more-masculine space to actually[br]accepting the feminine and

0:11:19.632,0:11:25.144
understanding that I can stand[br]in my femininity and still feel that power.

0:11:42.620,0:11:45.189
The marks all mean[br]something, right?

0:11:45.189,0:11:47.904
So for this one specifically,[br]I keep thinking about,

0:11:47.904,0:11:51.334
like, marking of time and[br]marking of the steps and this

0:11:51.334,0:11:54.624
monotonous-but-also-dedicated[br]process.

0:11:55.845,0:11:58.440
The wings flapping[br]of migrating birds,

0:11:58.864,0:12:04.042
it's this, like...You just go, you[br]just go, you just go.

0:12:05.279,0:12:08.060
♪♪♪

0:12:10.234,0:12:13.944
This chick acts like she[br]knows what she's doing.

0:12:18.660,0:12:21.739
It'll fit! I think it'll fit.

0:12:21.739,0:12:24.875
I hope it fits. Pretty close to that.

0:12:27.060,0:12:28.417
Good job, baby!

0:12:28.417,0:12:33.403
Let's get this done, and[br]thank you for your hard work.

0:12:35.399,0:12:38.751
There is no[br]separation between art and life.

0:12:39.200,0:12:45.168
I feel like my life has[br]been being in between.

0:12:46.260,0:12:49.567
When you can't ever be[br]comfortable in one place,

0:12:49.567,0:12:55.548
the discomfort can create an[br]incredible environment for investigation.

0:12:56.820,0:12:59.443
You have to kind of fall back[br]and close your eyes and hope

0:12:59.443,0:13:02.949
that where you land is exactly[br]the place you need to go.

0:13:02.949,0:13:06.807
♪♪♪

0:13:13.467,0:13:22.119
♪ sparse ethereal music ♪