Being a Hispanic American has caused a lot of internal conflicts but has lately brought me a lot of peace. There are aspects of my family’s way of living that I will always hold dear to me and cherish. My family has always been by my side no matter what and I have never felt neglected or abandoned by those who were tied to me by blood.
My time this past year in Miami has also made me very aware of a different type of family, one that took a much greater effort to maintain. The people I have grown close to as a young adult have shaped my way of relating to others. I built relationships with few, but they were very strong bonds. I spent time with people that I was able to connect with on a level much deeper than I had ever imagined and although some of them may enter and exit my life, I will always have remnants of those people who impacted my work and my very existence.
I want to build a family in my community. I want to speak only on behalf of those I really understand and hold connections with. I don’t see myself working on projects that have no relevance to my own life. When pursuing a community art project, the community and I will have some sort of common ground. The issue that I take on will be one that influences my own life on some degree because I want to feel as in touch with a thought as the community around me is. I want to be apart of the work, not just the leader that guides the people. Being passionate about what the people of a community are passionate about is what truly makes a project successful in my eyes.
-Ale N.
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