Itzayana

My name is Itzayana or Itza. I’m a Mexica visual artist from the South Bay (Occupied Ohlone Territory). I get inspiration from my culture, finding my purpose in the community through art and the ongoing healing process I’ve had throughout life. I have been painting Mexica art to help our seeds know where their roots come from, even after ongoing years of colonization. It’s also medicine for myself and others. Creating art has helped me heal from a medical/mental problem without having to use substances or pharmaceuticals to cope with it. I consider myself to be a painter/ creator.

What does "liberation" mean to you?

Liberation means freedom from colonial ways. It means not having a police state terrorizing our people/ communities. It’s able to heal our ancestral trauma and give that love, knowledge and ancestral ways to our seeds. We have been seeing so many people wake up to the system’s messed up ways and now they have been taking action. Each of us has a different part in the revolution and it’s all towards liberation for our people and our future. Ometeotl.

Is your creative practice one of liberation?

Being able to paint Mexica art is a part of ancestral memory and it feels liberating to be able to create something like that when colonization tried so hard to bury that away from us. It’s a part of our resistance. I usually find it hard to speak up but art has helped me express my thoughts where words can’t. We naturally like to create; it’s the way we express ourselves, it’s being able to give other people our eyes so they can see and feel our experiences, it’s OUR medicine.

How can art be a tool in the revolution?

“The revolution will not be televised.” It is our job to make sure people know what we are fighting for, what we stand for. The media can easily change the message but our murals, songs, photos, dances, banners, posters, the way people express themselves can’t. Art shows our emotion and resilience while also sparking something in another person to fight for the cause.

Share a little bit about your creative process!

Creating has been therapeutic and medicinal for me. I usually play music (underground or reggae) and start painting a piece. I’ll try to sketch something up first but I end up changing the idea around. It has been free flowing whenever I hold a brush.

@infrared.rose