This piece takes us to an underwater world. In this world we can see things happening around a fish tank. I’ve taken the fish bowl to symbolize what it feels like to live and learn inside UCSD and the rest of the ocean is the world outside of it. To me, a fish bowl is water that is filtered clean and the ocean a wild, unfiltered force of nature. I attached the god Yemaya, to signify our strength and rebirth within the womb of the ocean. I also added the gods, Tezcatlipoca, Coatlique, and Tonantzin to the mix because they have served me and my ancestors with guidance and I call upon them to continue to guide our ways into the future.

I’ve layered into my piece several cutouts from magazines and some things that I’ve printed out to create a collage that is representative of the world onto me and I onto the world. It may seemchaotic throughout the ocean, but with that, there are moments of healing and changes happening all around. I attached a few pictures of myself back when I was younger and in

community college. I did a lot of volunteer work for immigrant advocacy groups and that led me to witness some things about the world that were not so pretty. I’m not afraid to show that depth because it's precisely how deep and dark the ocean can get. In times when I’ve been through the thick of it all, my Mexico lindo y querido never fails to ground me back to my roots.

I’ve also added in a woman holding up a sign that says Somos la voz de las mujeres que ya no están, which translates to, “We are the voice of the women that are no longer here.” I identifywith this because in my work, I want to empower and lift up the communities that have been lost in the depths of this vicious ocean we call life. They are found again through us and live through us. It is a blessing to highlight and honor those lives even despite our differences.

Underneath the fish tank to the bottom of the ocean floor there are stacks of money and I’ve layered on top a table with a dancer and a pole in the middle. I’ve chosen the dancer again here because whether I get a seat at the table in a room full of money or I don’t, you bet your sweet *bleep* that I’m still gon’ give a captivating performance of a lifetime. In this depth you’ll find Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the borders that divide us. I chose curanderas layered above them to cleanse the spirits of the leaders of our status quo.

Closer to the surface, I’ve included a director’s chair, people working in creating media to accurately represent Dr. Martin Luther King’s transformative “I Have a Dream” and his honor to serve in the highest way for his country, in the way of love. I strongly believe that the tools we have built as a human collective can be used to amplify work such as Dr. King’s because there are so many others that do the labor of love each and every day and they rightfully deserve their roses and representation too.

With that, I’ve attached Universal Studios behind the scenes in action, the Disneyland fairytale castle and Danny Trejo. All of these things work in unison because the icon of Danny Trejo serves as a prime example of dreams coming true. He was incarcerated for a quarter of his life, was a heroin addict, and yet he still made it through to Hollywood as a main production anti-hero with films like Machete. He is living proof that no matter where you come from and what you’ve gone through, anything is possible. I also sneaked in Miley Cyrus because she is one fierce singer that has been publicly shamed time and time again, but remains resilient in her passion to use her voice artistically, kind of like me.

I sprinkled in moments of my past like working rideshare apps, among other eccentric things..long story short, it hasn’t been easy for someone like me to come attend a university. There was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that needed to be shed to make it here (mine, my mother’s, and my grandmothers). With much gratitude to the light beyond the surface, I’ve attached the word Free because that is where the sun shines upon me while I stay in the fish bowl. The fish bowl tells a story within the larger context of the world and about how I feel inside the parameters of being a student here. I have the opportunities to settle in,look at my past experiences with grace, and focus on a vision for where these waters will take me when I’m ready to swim out back out to sea.