Episode 7: “Intimate” by Paola de la Crúz

Transcription:

My piece “Intimate” is a self-portrait on going through a mourning period alongside nature. This piece helped me further understand that bodies do not exist outside of the natural world. People have a tendency to separate human beings from nature but we're all intertwined and having access to greenery is part of us. It's necessary for our well being. [MUSIC]

My name is Paola de la Crúz, she/her pronouns. I live in Portland, Oregon which is the land of the original peoples of Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, Molalla, and many more along what is now known as the Columbia River. I am working as an illustrator, muralist, and community-engaged artist.

My piece featured in the storybook is titled “Intimate”.  My work focuses on the radical act that is healing, tranquility, and reflection. My work challenges cultural identity, coming of age and interpersonal growth through a lens of healing and community. These themes happened naturally at first in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic and the rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement.  I noticed that Black and brown artists were being asked to create work that responded to an already traumatizing moment in time. The media took on trauma porn and images of brutalized Black and brown bodies flooded every space. I felt myself drawn to creating moments of serenity. I needed to create art that was an escape from my current reality. I began creating work that romanticized Black and brown love, joy, and tranquility as a radical act. 

I created “Intimate” while reflecting on a recent loss that I experienced in my life. Around that same time I had newly moved into my current living space and now is the first time in about two decades where I have had a backyard space and I noticed that having access to nature in this way has really helped me in my healing journey. [BIRD SOUNDS] I spent most of the time just laying on the grass, eyes closed, the sun just caressing me. I think these were the first moments I experienced true meditation. My mind was able to be truly silenced and the pain from mourning did not overwhelm my ability to reflect. Noticing these moments of how important it is to have access to nature really set me on a journey of thinking about environmental racism and the impact that it's had in my upbringing.

Black and brown people have been stripped away access to safe outdoor environments and this had a tremendous impact in how we're able to process moments in our lives. Having the means to enjoy nature for nature's sake, whether it's through outdoor activities, access to gardening, or just sitting on grass interrupted is a human right that my community does not get to indulge in. Nature helps us heal, nature nurtures us and my community has been ripped away from this vital part of a healing process.

Climate crisis and environmentalism shows up in my work through the notion that as people we must accept that the world is bigger than us. The harm we create ricochets and the world will continue on with or without us. In my work, the landscape and my figures sit on a leveled plane. They inform and collaborate with each other to create a fuller picture, and again, I approach my work through a trauma-informed lens and through a call for ancestral guidance on processing existential issues or even issues that affect people on individual levels. [MUSIC]

Through my art I hope to build community. A lot of that comes from drawing from ancestral wisdom but most importantly from the wisdom of my community and neighbors right now. My community is filled with knowledge and insights that constantly shape and guide my understanding of how my work impacts people. I think art can be at times intrusive when an artist comes into a community and creates work that doesn't speak to the reality of what the people there are facing. So other than looking for generational wisdom I try to really collaborate with people today and the needs of today and how people are healing and building community with each other today.

I moved to Portland about 5 years ago and Portland is known to be one of the whitest cities in America and I just want to say that my art has really evolved while living here. A lot of that is thanks to the Black and brown community here and the way that creatives here have been able to shape and build a community that supports one another despite the city literally being built to keep us out. A lot of my work has been commemorating the land and the people and what it means to take up space in a city where you're not meant to succeed in and where you're not meant to find community in but, Portland is really resilient in that way and a lot of that has been reflected in my current artwork.

I celebrate myself and my community through my work by being unapologetically uninvolved in white supremacist nature of the art world which asks Black and brown creatives to retraumatize ourselves through our work. I choose to create work that can speak to difficult issues, but I do it through a lens where the ultimate goal is to build community and to take us closer to understanding what healing can look like for us individually. [MUSIC]

MUSIC & SOUNDS USED:

Theme music : Water Fluid - Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay

Medium Crowd Ambiance Outdoor Talking: Sound Effect by Pixabay

Country, Poland, grass rustle, flies, birds, light forest…: Sound Effect by be a hero not a patriot from Pixabay

Daylight: Sound Effect by Andrewkn from Pixabay