Daniela Guerrero-Rodriguez (she/they) is a queer Latinx immigrant from Central American of Indigenous, European, and African ancestry, and currently a settler on the stolen lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ peoples, colonially known as Vancouver, BC.
She is a trauma informed, intersectional, and liberation centered facilitator, educator and interdisciplinary social practice artist who works with folks at the intersection of art and change to nurture what emerges.
Artist Statement
As a mixed person I get asked, "What are you?" often. The question may have to do with my race (because I am not easily placed), or with my language (because I speak Spanish), or ancestry (because I mention different geographic regions). It is not a question I mind, usually, but it is one that pierces deep and is one I tussle with regularly.
I often fall in the ‘in between’ as a queer, non binary person of mixed ancestry. My connection to land is most important to me because I feel it informs my ability to shift from a colonial lens to a liberated lens of my relationships with myself, others, and the planet.
Reflection and Connection to "Imagination for Liberation"
Imagining liberation requires me to find the ancestral threads that tie me to the land (my pre-colonial and non colonial self), to identify what parts of me uphold the status quo (my colonial self), and do the work of understanding them better so that I can tease them apart and keep what is helpful for liberation and decolonize what is not.
This work of teasing apart requires imagining what can be, what I am, and what liberation can look like in my lifetime. I bring this understanding as well as a desire to connect more with the land each day by learning more about it and what it means to be land based. The materials used in this piece represent my pre colonial, non colonial, and colonial connections to land. It is where my past, present and future as well as self, community and land collide to co-create a new reality.
