A crooked compass

What pieces or projects have you been working on lately?
I’m starting the year by organizing my archives, rearranging imaginaries, and facing the consequences of my immense good fortune. I’m shifting my professional profile toward a more interdisciplinary practice, looking for new opportunities for growth and for exhibiting more of my work. At the same time, I’m in different stages of post-production on two short films. The most recent one is my first fiction shot on 16mm as a cinematographer: a story about the body and longing, set among the streams and fields of Talpa de Allende, in Jalisco.

What did you learn (or unlearn) while working on them?
The change of pace has taught me to slow down, take problems more lightly, and recognize their absurdity.

What words, ideas or emotions were going through your head?
Many of my ideas come from phrases I’ve read, dreams, or places I stumble upon by chance. A recurring dream I have is running without being able to stop, afraid that I’ve missed something extraordinary.

When I travel, I’m interested in learning about local legends, visiting cemeteries, and discovering new colors. I’m drawn to the idea of photographing as a way of telling life through postcards.

Were there any conversations, movies, music, or books that made their way into that work?
The last two books I read —both of which I highly recommend— were Furia from Clyo Mendoza and Ansibles, perfiladores y otras máquinas de ingenio from Andrea Chapela.

Furia is a violent story about finding belonging, interwoven with Mexican mysticism, while Ansibles, perfiladores y otras máquinas de ingenio depicts the devices we coexist with in a dystopian (distant?) future: machines that let us alter reality, erase memories, and stop time.

What's been the most difficult thing you've faced recently in your creative process?
I like to be transparent with my words and images. I recognize that sometimes it’s hard for me to find a clear focus; I tend to drift between the general and the particular. I like to name things to understand them, and I try to defend the act of creating and sharing even in the midst of pain.

What is your favorite restaurant and what do you recommend we order?
It’s always a good day for a quebradita, shrimps or zetas zarandeadas at Los Mariscos Bitacheros. And for celebrating: Zorra and Tikuun.

If your life were a movie this month, what would it be called and who would write the soundtrack?
A crooked compass. The soundtrack would be colorful, starting with Águas de Março, performed by Elis Regina.

Recommend one or more artists you follow who inspire you, and tell us what you like most about their work or their way of working.
Lately, I’ve been revisiting the documentary work of Mary Ellen Mark after coming across a compilation of her photographs. Her portraits and her profound relationship with her subjects left me deeply impressed.

Along similar lines, the documentary Plaza de la Soledad (2016), by Maya Goded, will always be one of my favorites. I find it to be a moving, sincere, and playful portrait that celebrates resistance.

A constant and powerful source of inspiration is my friends, who encourage me to publish, share, and print my work: the intimate exhibitions and workshops of Andrea Godinez and Reyna Barragan; the personal fanzine and visual experimentation of Cynthia Lecona; and the fascinating analog animations by Brenda Arregoitia.