WORKS > Works on VIDEO

Jumping Fences: art, healing and becoming Chicano
video
20 mins
2022

In this video I wanted to talk about the malleable nature of identity as I shifted from being an assimilated young adult artist to embracing Chicano identity while working on a video project that helped in the process. I wanted to juxtapose my story as a young adult with my dad's story and his involvement with the Chicano liberation movement. Photographs and super 8 film footage of San Francisco in the 1990s help tell the story.

This video is third in a trilogy of videos that track the journey of emotional awareness in a young man as he navigates his world through creativity and creative projects. Of the topics I explore there is the formation of ego and identity, the creative practices that lead to emotional growth and awareness, the importance of a connection to nature, and the role of family, friends, and educational resources.

This trilogy starts with Drawings of a Teenager: 1978-1982, then moves into early young adult years with Frames of Mind: a film student's journey to emotional awareness, and finishing with Jumping Fences: art, healing and becoming Chicano.

These videos tell a coming-of-age story with the backdrop of the San Francisco Bay Area of the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s with photographs and film footage of the times.