Growing up I was told to pick and choose between being a lawyer and a doctor. My mami didn’t know that all her spending on crayons and notebooks meant doodling and in true crayon to paper fashion, imagining a world more just and better than our current one. I never picked up a stethoscope but I did listen to the stories of Miguel and Tina, and organized to imagine a world where they weren’t struggling; where they were free. My practice is guided by the belief in building with, not for my people.
- Motyko
how do you arrive at braiding art and policy together?
I don’t separate art from the political. I believe art is simply a vehicle to communicate the conditions around us in a way that makes it all the more real, felt, embodied.
what brings you joy?
The sun hitting my face on a cold morning, laughing with friends, chamomile tea, making art for my eyes only, connection, and bike riding.
what keeps you moving?
I fight for a world where our people are free, where community care exists above profit, and where we’ve shattered colonial restrictions on what’s possible.
what’s on your bucket list?
Go on a cross country road trip, see the pyramids, and a long list of others I can’t possibly remember but are tucked away, written somewhere :)
what does your perfect day look like?