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Welcome to Your Art Is A Spell, the podcast that ignites inspiring and transformative conversations about art as a magical practice. I'm your host, Edgar Fabián Frías—a multi-passionate artist, witch, therapist, and proud mutant shape-shifter. My art spells have reached audiences through social media, billboards, and skyscrapers and have even been placed on the surface of the moon! Join us as we explore how reclaiming your unique artistic voice and embracing bold creativity can transform your life and the world around you. Subscribe to the podcast and sign up for our newsletter at www.yourartisaspell.com to stay connected!
welcome Your art is a spell and it will change
your life and the world around you Welcome
back to Your Art is a Spell I'm so thrilled for
today's special guest We're going to be speaking
with the artist known as Eva Aguila who for me
has been such a beacon of hope of persistence of
resilience here in the city of Los Angeles Eva is
an artist who has really dedicated so much of her
career supporting other artists and making space
for artists to explore their own practices We will
get into that and we will also get into some of
Eva's newest work the new art that she's showing
next month in April If you're listening to this in
March she will be having her first ever solo show
at the Vincent Price Art Museum and she shares a
little bit about that But before we get into the
conversation let me read you Eva's bio Eva Aguila
is a Mexican-American interdisciplinary artist
and organizer As a first generation born in Los
Angeles her work currently is centered around oral
histories of the Mexican diaspora specifically
her ancestral family's rural Michoacan communities
Aguila works with video sound and installation to
examine personal histories and the inbetweeness of
the Latine experience Using research and personal
archives her current work is informed by the
materiality of memory Inspired by ephemererality
and indigenous futurism she works with timebased
media to depict stories and alternative histories
to reinterpret cultural portrayals of the diaspora
Aguila is also one of the founders and board
president of Coaxial Arts Foundation an artist run
nonprofit organization dedicated to experimental
sound video and performance art Aguila co-created
Coaxial Arts Foundation as a way to further the
community of interdisciplinary media arts in LA
as well as foster the community itself Her passion
for grassroots organizing started as a need to
support underrepresented artist communities
as ephemeral art is not always represented in
traditional art galleries Aguila holds a BFA from
California Institute of the Arts from the School
of Theater and Design and Stage Management and
most recently graduated from the University of
California with an MFA in art from the Roski
School of Art and Design Without further ado
here's my conversation with Eva Aguila Hi Eva
Welcome so much to your art is a spell I'm so
glad that you're here and so so excited to connect
with you and yeah would love for you to share a
little bit about who you are to introduce yourself
to folks Yes thank you for having me Yes my name
is Eva Aguila I'm an artist I'm also an organizer
and an avid gardener and a lot of things I'm
interdisciplinary and yeah just happy to be here
and talk to you today Yeah And you and I go way
back We've known each other for quite some time
and you know we've definitely connected in a lot
of different ways And so I thought we could maybe
talk a little bit about some of the ways that
we've intersected But I would love just to hear
from you in your own words like how you describe
your like career or your art journey What's your
connection to art and like how has art been what
kind of a role has it had in your life yeah I mean
I feel like my journey as an artist started since
oddly since I was a kid but I just didn't realize
that I was an artist until later in life Like I
think a big significant pivotal point for me was
in the sixth grade when I had an elementary school
teacher named Mrs Robinson who loved painting and
she encouraged us to paint her students and she
took five of us to one of her like ladies luncheon
with one of our with our paintings and paid for
the framing and everything to sell our paintings
to these ladies And that was the first time that I
realized that art is like like a career where like
people can well maybe not a career but I was like
wow people buy this it's not just something
we do for fun I kept painting but then when
I was in high school I just moved into theater
video performance art even like just like into
different types of um forms and that led me to go
to Cal Arts for undergrad I was there for theater
production I was I studied stage management
which is the opposite of being creative But
I think at the time I felt that I needed to learn
something practical because being like a daughter
of immigrants and like first generation for a lot
of things like my parents didn't even go to high
school or even elementary school So me going to
college was a big deal and I felt like I needed to
learn something practical because I needed to get
a job And so that was like my way to like still
be involved in the creative industry while still
learning something practical But it to it pretty
much took me like almost 20 years to realize that
my entire life I've been making decisions based
upon what I thought other people needed me to do
And it's only up until recently that I actually
started to finally do the things that I want to
do because I need to do them for myself And that's
what led me to go to grad school and get that
fine art degree that I think I was withholding
for myself for many years almost two decades
Wow Yeah Yeah Yeah So it's been a journey but
I'm finally doing what I'm need to be doing Yeah
Yeah Wow Thank you so much for sharing that And
I'm curious like was there like a moment where you
had that like realization of like I've been really
making a lot of my decisions based off of other
people's you know interests or projections and
yeah what was that moment if you can remember that
oof I mean it took several years of therapy and
healing to go there but I think it was like a few
years after I had opened Coaxial Arts Foundation
which is the nonprofit that I run And I was
like working full-time at a museum to pay for
this nonprofit And I just was working like seven
days a week I was so stressed And I started going
to therapy just to deal with my stress And through
the process of unpacking why I had started Coaxial
why I was working this full-time job all this
stuff like I started to realize that I was doing
all this stuff for other people and not for myself
And so then I had to like continue therapy to
actually leave that full-time museum job which was
very difficult to leave that stability in order to
then shift gears and do the things that really
were important to me which is to be an artist
and be creative And so it's that that that journey
started I think in like 2017 Yeah And so Yeah And
we're in 2025 So yeah that's that's how long it's
taken me Wow Yeah That's incredible to hear that
you know it was through a therapeutic process of
like kind of learning more about yourself that you
started to make these changes and totally makes
sense that it takes some time sometimes to like
really make these big decisions And you brought
up coaxial and that's definitely something I would
love for us to talk a little bit about Do you
mind just sharing about coaxial like maybe just a
little bit about the history and um I and I think
also maybe something that could be interesting is
like how that has like also maybe informed your
own artistic practice or your own artistic journey
Yeah I think um we started in 2015 and that I
decided to start it right after like a series of
experiences that I had with the art world that I
felt were disappointing or lacking or kind of just
doing things in a way that were different from
the reason why I love art And so I kind of took
it into my own hands and felt the need to create
a space in a way that I thought needed to exist I
guess in a way I wanted to fill in that gap of the
of the need that I saw in LA and and I wanted some
sort of like hub or something for uh artists at
the intersection of video sound and performance
art because I think a lot of times those worlds
compartmental are compartmentalized or sometimes
they're labeled in like these other realms that
are not seen as visual arts or or in the visual
art world but they are And and so I just kind of
wanted to hone in more on that nebulous section
that I think all of us kind of struggle with of
like well is this art is sound art visual art is
video art vis you know I don't know And and same
with performance art So I had this issues and so
and and I wanted people to just have the time and
space to create because I myself had had that need
Like space in LA as you know is very difficult
because of the cost of rent and not everyone can
afford a studio and that kind of stuff and and
performance um can be really weird Music venues
aren't weren't really quite you know the place for
the kind of work that we exhibit at Coaxial and
same goes for like White Wall Galleries And so I
I don't know So it was just a response to wanting
to fill in that gap And yeah we've been doing it
for 10 years We're about to celebrate our 10 year
anniversary Yeah Yeah Well congratulations Like
that's so exciting for y'all to be around for
10 years especially as like an underground you
know alternative type space Like that's like a
thousand years you know in that world Like and
yeah I'm curious about that journey cuz I know
like you all started like kind of more like DIY
underground right and and has shifted a little
bit right and I'm so curious about that journey
like what that's been like for you all Oh my god
it's it it's constantly evolving Um yeah because
I just honestly I was kind of naive about what it
would be like to start a nonprofit I just kind of
took it into like my own hands and did it in this
very DIY style where I literally bought a book
and went through the instructions on how to start
a nonprofit Wow and just went through the steps
because we couldn't afford a lawyer We couldn't
even afford rent at the time I actually made the
sacrifice of selling all of my video gear to pay
for two months of rent while I figure out how
I'm going to pay the rest of the rent because now
it's suddenly I had this lease aside from where I
live and I was like "Wow okay well how am I going
to pay for this?" Cuz you can't immediately get
grants like that process usually takes a while and
usually funders don't like to give you money until
you've been programming for at least two to three
years and so I was trying to figure out a way of
how am I going to survive for the next three years
until we can actually start getting funding from
these sources like the municipal grants of private
foundations donation you know whatever Um and my
solution was to essentially sacrifice me being
an artist and selling all my gear and getting
a full-time museum job and paying for that And
that's what happened Wow Yeah Yeah Yeah And you
know in a way like you supported so many people
by doing that right like you were really creating
as you said a much needed space that didn't really
exist in Los Angeles And I know how many artists
myself included have really benefited from the
space that you've helped to create And yeah I'm
like curious about you know as you were working in
coaxial and uh you know really providing space but
also as you said sacrificing like what have you
learned you know about like the DIY to maybe more
institutional or funded world because I know that
that's like can feel like such an insurmountable
barrier for a lot of people and as you said you
like didn't have money to hire someone you did
a lot of this work on your own Like that to me
makes you such a special unique person that you're
willing to do that kind of work and you have that
capacity So yeah I'm just curious like what have
you learned or what could you share to people who
might want to do that or who like are like how
do you even do that yeah I mean honestly my mom
always told me that I was very stubborn So like I
I I think it's just being persistent because it's
not hard like you know we exist in this very like
capitalist mindset and whether we think about it
or not even within this type of nonprofit world is
still within those parameters of this capitalist
um model because the things that a lot of
people don't talk about which I didn't know
I naively just didn't think about and learned
you know throughout this process of starting
this nonprofit is that a lot of nonprofits are ran
by wealthy people who already have the connections
to that funding source where they can just call
up someone and get like $50,000 $100,000 $200,000
or whatever Like they could have these like Galas
where they can charge $150 a ticket Unfortunately
we don't have those resources I don't have those
connections because a lot of those connections are
usually family connections or or just line or
just legacy connections that maybe you grew up
around and I didn't have those because literally
my parents are from a small they're small they're
they're both from Michoacan, a small rural towns of Michoacan
where like they don't have any money and like
so like our our connections are just like other
family members who are just as poor as us you know
And and also like why would they donate i mean it
just they don't even understand this I didn't even
tell my parents I started coaxial because they
wouldn't have even understood what that really
means for me or why I was doing this And so I
kind of hid it from them I still actually haven't
really told them that I started it technically I
think they sort of figured it out at this point
but like gosh but like I never told them because I
feel like they would get mad at me because they're
like wait why are you doing this but it was really
important to me to do it I just had this need this
pull something was pushing me this pull impulse I
guess to do it And I wasn't going to let anything
stop me And so anyone putting any doubt I
think would have put self-doubt into me and
then I would have then been scared or whatever
and then not maybe done it And so I just have
just been learning along the process But um but
it has been like a difficult journey because one
thing that I've experienced that I feel like I'm
still recovering from is the burnout And I've and
also I've witnessed other people that have helped
me run coaxial also go through this burnout And
it's really sad because I think we all really care
about this and we all wanted to keep existing but
it's not worth it at the expense of the individual
where like I physically got sick like in like 2018
I think a big wakeup call for me was in 2018 I
got shingles from all the stress from running
a nonprofit and working full-time and I was like
holy [ __ ] like I'm in my 30s like I shouldn't
getting shingles That's something that old people
get you know but I think I was just under so much
stress that that I wasn't taking care of myself
and that's not ever good for anybody you know
And then I started to become like resentful and
then bitter and then it just was awful And so I
think I've just been in this healing realm of
like how do I keep going where I really care
about you know helping people helping artists
helping my community but not at the expense
of me being a martyr you know because that's
what it honestly felt like It's been a journey
So glad you share that because I think that is
such an important thing to name that as much as
you might have the passion and the persistence
and also having friends and people to support
you it is still a lot of work right it is still
so much work to run an entire organization while
still also having a job or having to do your own
art practice on the side right like there's so
much work that's involved and burnout is such a
big thing that impacts so many people and yeah
I'm you know so glad that there was a moment that
you decided to go to therapy and started to really
think about what feels important for you in terms
of your own art career and I would love for us
to pivot a little bit more to talk about your art
career especially now that you've had a few years
and you've gone through a whole MFA program at USC
like I just would love for you to share a little
bit about what that's been like for you to be
able to like pivot and have more of your life be
in your art and your art practice yeah I mean my
art practice has also been a journey and I think
that there's always a lot of divine timing that's
been happening throughout my life where like I do
something and then that leads me to something and
I do something then that leads me to something and
then it's just kind of been like that my whole
adulthood and I'm always like in awe of this
because I'm like wow like how does this happen
like that this happens and then this happens Like
sometimes it just feels like a big coincidence but
then I'm like "No it's not." Like the ancestors
are with me and they've been with me the whole
time whether I knew it or not But I feel like I
haven't been on this journey by myself Even though
for most of my life I think I felt very lonely
But I actually have had a lot of support from the
bigger realm I guess And it wasn't until I started
doing like more spiritual work that it like helped
me to hone in on the things that I really cared
about in terms of like my art practice and stuff
And so that journey started when I was working at
the natural history museum and I helped develop
a lot of the content that is in exhibitions till
this day like there's things that are permanently
in the shows that I made and one of those is
um this looping video where I interviewed nine
indigenous people from the LA basin area and I
spent you know at least nine hours if not more
hearing about their story of their indigenity
and I think that brought me to do a lot of
self-reflection and thinking about my own heritage
age which I had never done before But yeah around
that time I was working on many projects but that
was one of them I also met Barbara Carrasco because
we were installing the really big mural that's
about LA history and I helped do the lighting
grid for that because it was a challenge to light
it evenly And so I was in charge of essentially
the lighting design and the lighting everything
And then just I don't know it was just I was
meeting like all these like Chicano elders but
then also indigenity and all this stuff and then
it just brought me to want to do my own project
and I at that point I I had already went part-time
at the museum and was doing freelance work and I
was up in Silicon Valley doing a job for a big
tech company and I was just kind of like you
know thinking like what am I doing with my life
what is my purpose or why and then I opened my
email and it was this open call for DCA to do
the current LA food project And I had already
started thinking about like I had this project
in mind where I wanted to talk to my dad about
tortillas because we had just a year prior
we had gone to Europe together and he kind of
went through like this existential crisis where
he couldn't find corn tortillas in Europe and he
naively thought that he can just go to the grocery
store in Europe and I'm not joking in Italy and go
buy corn tortillas and I was like no bad like
no there's no corn tortillas here like this
is Europe like they don't eat corn tortillas you
know and he settled for like we found these like
wraps but at that point that's when I and he was
having like such a hard time with that because he
literally eats corn tortillas every single day
with every meal and I'm like holy [ __ ] like
this isn't just about food it's about identity
and who you are as a person and I'm like that
really like stayed with me and and then when
this open call happened I like this is this is
like divine timing I I'm like I need to apply to
this and I did and I got it and it was like what
basically started on me making my own projects
and led me to where I am today Like why I went
to grad school because I wanted more time to work
on that kind of work Yeah Wow That's so incredible
Yeah Yeah And I'm curious like do you do you feel
like that moment that you're saying that divine
timing when that email arrived or right when you
were having that like existential moment yourself
too do you feel like that was like your ancestors
or like uh that like divine guidance that you're
talking about that was like hey here's like a an
opening yeah I think so I mean I don't believe in
coincidences now because since then like there's
been things like that all the time in my life
how like one thing leads me to another and then
it's almost like a clue like a scavenger hunt
or something where like there's this map and I'm
supposed to go find it but I can't get to the end
until I get to this other thing first you know
like I feel like I' I have I I've been on this
journey and and that's one thing that I talked
to um my friend Sanaz who's a clairvoyant healer
She's helped me a lot connecting with my ancestors
and she says that when you're in alignment that's
just how it is Like the path is cleared for you
and everything that you need to be doing happens
because it needs to happen for a reason and and
it's not a coincidence It's it's because you're in
alignment with your true self Yeah And so Yeah And
so I just need to follow that and and remember not
to operate in fear you know because I think that
for many years I was operating in fear and making
a lot of my decisions based on fear and I I need
to be mindful of that and and that's something
that I feel like I'm always you know struggling
with or not struggling but something I have to
like keep tabs on you know because we still need
to live we still need to exist in this world And
so I need to always like ask myself like okay is
this thing like a practical thing because we need
to do it because it's actually like valid and and
like it's a safety thing or am I just doing this
or am I wanting to do this because I'm afraid you
know yeah So just making those decisions like yeah
is always just a daily practice I guess I don't
know It's such a great question to ask yourself
and to be aware of and to especially as you said
if it's like a a kind of like a way that you like
normally have shown up to kind of be like okay I
know that that might happen so let me be aware of
this and ask that question and yeah with this
said like I'm curious like about that time in
between you doing this project for Current LA and
then going to graduate school Um I'm curious like
what made you decide to go to graduate school and
also what was that process like um especially you
know I'm similar to you where like my parents
I had to hide my art passion from my parents
and so I like totally know that reality Um but
yeah I'm like curious about that like kind of
what led you to go to grad school what made you
make that decision and also what was that process
like well it's funny you say that cuz I feel like
that was also kind of not really decided I almost
didn't really decide It was almost decided for me
in a way So me and Brock my partner um brought us
to New York during 2021 because we had lost
all of our work because we do a lot of event
production type stuff And so of course because
of COVID and the lockdown there was literally
no events And so we literally didn't have any
money and we we started to look outside of LA
to keep existing you know pay our bills and stuff
and we landed in in New York and it was because
um Brock had received a job there But I I didn't
have a job and so I was just thinking like well
what should I do with my time i'm like maybe I
should use this as as a time for me to learn a
new skill or reflect on like my career maybe event
production isn't a sustainable future I don't know
I was just going through a transitional period
too And so um I applied to Hunter College in New
York and I got accepted and I was going to sign up
for classes and everything But the week that I was
supposed to sign up for classes Brock got a new job
offer back in LA and I kind of saw that as a sign
that I was like "Okay we can't stay in New York
Like we need to move back to LA there's something
calling us to move back Another sign that I'm
getting you know totally because otherwise we
would we would have gone stuck there for three
years you know cuz that was a three-year program
And so we're like nope okay we're moving back
to LA because also I wasn't happy in New York
Like I was going through existential crisis of
of identity like who am I like what am I doing
here as a per you know cuz I feel like a lot of
my work is rooted in LA or Mexico and I just felt
so disconnected from all of that being so far away
and also yeah my families and friends are all here
and so we come back to LA and somehow the director
of the USC program found out that I had applied
to grad school and wow she and she in invited
me to go on a tour and I wasn't even planning
on going to USC to be honest because I went to Cal
Arts which is another expensive private school and
so in my heart I wanted to go to a state school or
something you know and that's why I chose Hunter
because I don't know I just I still have student
loans from Cal Arts you know so I wasn't about to
give myself more student loans for grad school
totally but but I was very frank and I told her
I'm like I told her all this and so I was like
I'll only do it if I get funding and She was
able to help me maneuver all of that and that's
how I ended up going to be honest And I'm happy
to say I I didn't take out a single student loan
Wow That's so amazing Yeah I'm so glad that you
were able to do that And also like how incredible
that like someone in your community that was like
the director was like "Hey come here Like I want
to bring you in here." And and what was it like
to go to grad school like I'm curious what that
whole process was like for you I was like the
oldest student in my cohort So I definitely felt
weird a lot of the time cuz most of them were in
their 20s and you know I was going to school in my
literally in my four when I was like 40 and so I'm
like there was a definite divide or I felt it but
I was like no I can't let age I can't be an agist
and I can't let that stop me I'm here to learn
just like everyone else And even though I have
this life experience and I started a nonprofit
and I had this whole life career thing before
doesn't mean that I can't learn you know and
but I also kind of hit the ground running I
already had projects in mind I already knew what
I wanted to focus on And I think that when you're
younger you maybe necessarily don't have some
of that stuff figured out And so I think that
it was just different for me I think because I
already knew what I wanted from the program I
just needed the time and space and I think that
for me it was really great I mean I have to say
that all grad programs have their issues There's
no program totally that are that is perfect you
know So you have to really do your due diligence
do your research and figure out what do you need
from this program and and you really ask yourself
why are you going and so I think that sometimes
people just go just because they don't know or I
don't know or I don't know they just or maybe they
don't think about it Um or a lot of people are
told like that's what you're supposed to do right
like Exactly Yeah And I and I had already you know
I thought about it a lot I I had witnessed a lot
of my friends go through the program and I I had
heard the pros and cons I had people that were
telling me not to go that it would be a waste of
time I mean I you know but I needed to remove like
all of that noise and just think about the reason
why I needed to go and and just like really like
hone in on those because anything if I listened
to all of those like it would have just made me
insecure and and I think would have brought
a lot of self-doubt and stuff you know to the
point where I didn't even tell my parents I was
going until a couple weeks before I started school
I'm not even joking because I knew they were going
to react poorly to it and they did They kind of
scolded me a little They still like even though
I'm like a 40-year-old woman or not 41 about to
turn 42 they still kind of do that sometimes And
so you know I've had issues with boundaries with
them and stuff but you know sometimes that's
still it still happens And they also live in
a very patriarchal society I mean where male and
female have these particular roles and after I
left the room they like talked to Brock separately
and were like do you agree with this and then of
course he vouched for me but he told me later
after they left what they had said and that just
kind of pissed me off because it's just because
they don't believe me like they think they have
to go ask my husband if if he agrees with this
because he's still like my owner or something I
don't know It's it's like but that's how they
that's how they think and I can't change that
about them But I mean these are just like some of
the struggles that I feel like I deal with being
femme you know from these rural parts of Mexico
Um but even more of a reason to do it because
it's an act of resistance for me and and education
is really important And so even just some of the
friends that were telling me not to go like I'm
just like you don't get it You don't understand
what it's like to be me So sorry I'm going to
go and I'm going to do the best that I can And
I did And I'm happy to say that I've had a lot
of success I was very happy with my thesis show
And now I'm working on a solo show that's about to
open in a few weeks So yeah Yeah Oh my gosh Yeah I
definitely want to get into your solo show because
I'm so excited about it But before that I do have
a question about you know getting your MFA like do
you mind sharing like what are some like tangible
things that you feel like you got from your MFA
program just in case if there's someone listening
who like is considering going like what are some
tangible things that you feel like you got from
it for me it was the studio time like literally
being in the studio and honing in on the things
that I cared about but then also learning how to
talk about it and research and not every program
is like that Every program is different The reason
why I feel like I needed to be at USC is because
they are very academic I had to write a thesis
paper along with doing a solo exhibition which
could be a lot for for people definitely And so I
wrote a 40page thesis paper not like a traditional
research paper per se but I needed that's as part
of my MFA program I needed to do that and I had
a committee that needed to read it and approve
it and give me notes and all the stuff and that
was very challenging for me but I needed to be
challenged in that way because um having a voice
has always been something that I've struggled
with like I said like I was I wasn't given the
voice as a kid because of being a fem or whatever
Like women just don't have voices and I don't know
how to they just don't And so that's something
that I've always struggled with And so this was
like my time and space to find my voice but also
receive feedback I think that was really important
you know and so I feel really lucky that I had
the committee that I had and and just the people
that came in through my studio and I was able to
share my work Um Shireen Gunes is one of them Like
she was on my committee and I love her and I miss
her and I still wish I had studio visits with her
And then Mary Kelly also she's like brilliant
woman and I love her too and she was also on
my committee and you know so many people and like
Jennifer West who brought me to the program even
though I think I'm making very different work than
her art practice like I think she really helped me
hone in on the things that I really care about
Um yeah I took a directive research class with
her last summer even though I was technically
graduated to start the research project for the
exhibition that I'm about to open And so I've just
I feel like I just got a lot of support because I
also knew what I wanted And so that really helped
me hone in on the on the things I needed So if I
needed something I would ask for it And so I was
always very direct and kind of fighting for myself
and and also my cohort you know Yeah you leaning
into your voice right using your voice like that
I'm so glad that it was a space for you to really
like practice that and also to explore that and
yeah and I'd love for you to share about your solo
show I'm so proud of you So excited Cannot wait to
see your exhibition and would love to hear about
uh if you want to give the information out and
also if you want to share a little bit about what
it's about and I know that you were just in Mexico
right so like if you wanted to share a little bit
about what this project entails Yeah I mean that's
also kind of like an extension of another project
that I worked on Um so a year and a half ago I
was in the Mercosul Biennial and I did an installation
about labor and agricultural labor and it was
about the Braceros and how my both my grandparents
were Braceros and several my family members and
uh I originally conceived or thought about this
project for the Mexicalei Biennial but unfortunately
they didn't accept the project proposal and so
I kind of like set that project aside But then
I got invited to do the Mercosul Biennial and um based on
the curator's theme I thought it would be very
appropriate to to finish that project that I had
started a year prior And I don't know I I also
think it was divine timing because I think had
I done it at the Messi bianial it wouldn't have
been what it ended up being and it wouldn't have
led me to where I am now So it was why it needed
to have Yeah It needed to happen like because I
need because like one thing that was missing from
the that would have been missing from from the
first iteration was that my uncle gave me a lot
of his archives and research about him doing work
with Cesar Chavez and the great the grape boycott
movement Cesar did a lot of work around that and
I actually have a copy of his last speech before
he passed away that my uncle recorded because my
uncle's Jorge is also an organizer and educator
and he was teaching at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at
the time and he would organize civil rights
week where he would invite organizers and artists
and guest speakers to talk about civil rights and
things like that And so on one of those occasions
it was Cesar Chavez talking about the pesticides
and and the labor mistreatment of workers in
the grape agricultural business in Northern
California And with that included wine grapes not
just table grapes And that was something that a
lot of people don't talk about because they just
don't like wine companies don't want you to think
think about these things you know right And the
sad thing about my uncle doing this work is that
it actually ended his marriage because his wife
was really involved or had a lot of friends in
the wine growing business and she didn't like that
my uncle was bringing awareness to this kind of
work and and felt embarrassed by it or something
like I don't know terrible terrible thing but it
just that is I think that is what planted the seed
for me to start thinking about the project And and
then I was just kind of thinking about that and
and then a few months later I was watching this
PBS show Lost LA and one of the episodes was about
the wine history in California and how it was
started in in LA And I was like "Wow like that's
interesting I didn't know." But I still didn't
have that connection Like what really sold me on
why I needed to do this project was when I was
going to I was going to go to Europe this summer
I really wanted to go to the culturon region and
I found out that the culturon region was started
by the Catholic Church through the pope and
uh at that point I was like wow okay wine and m m
m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m
m m m m m m m m m m m m m mistreating of labor all
through the Catholic church And so I I don't know
I just started like obsessively researching
and I don't even know what I was looking for
until I knew what I was looking for which is this
500year document that Hernan Cortez wrote in 1524
And it's a it's a decree It a It was like a law
uh made in Nueva Espana that's about planting grapes
for the Spanish government so they can make wine
for the sacrament And and when I found that I was
like this is what I've been looking for Yeah
And so I decided at that point I'm like I'm
making my project about this And so it was Yeah
divine timing But so my project is about the 500
year history of colonization through the lens of
wine production And yeah I've just been d diving
deeper into that um because there's just so much
history in LA in particular but also in Mexico And
these connections um are all related And I think
sometimes these histories are a little disjointed
And so I'm doing I'm making an effort to try to
connect them all Spain the Spanish government
Catholic Church with Nueva Espana with California
you know because people don't think about it but
before California was the US or or Mexico even it
was Nueva Espana you know like the the the missions
were started by the missionaries when it was Nueva
Espana and like Yeah And so I just really wanted
to talk about that history cuz the oldest grape
vine in Northern California is in the San Gabriel
Mission and a lot of people don't know that Yeah
Yeah I don't know So it's just like there's a lot
to unpack there but I I wanted to take the
the history further and so I I had I went to
Mexico to do research there Found these like old
Jesuit caves where they like subjugated the native
people and cultivated wine not just not just wine
but everything you know they needed they needed
um the missions needed to be self- sustaining
and so they were you know growing all kinds of
crops but like vine vines for grapes were in
particular important and it it was laid out
in this decree that um Hernan Cortez wrote So
yeah Wow Oh it's so incredible that you're using
your art practice as like a way to build these
connections especially for these histories that as
you said are not ideal They're not really you know
advertised A lot of them are hidden or even like
pushed away in like a dark corner right and yeah
I'd love for you to share like details cuz I would
love for folks to be able to come and see your
exhibition Do you mind letting us know like when
it's going to open and also I'm very curious like
what medium or mediums might be included Yeah Yeah
So I I like wanted to hit it from every direction
and so the San Gabriel Mission was very gracious
and let me pick grapes from their vines and I made
grape ink from it and I made these like kind of I
don't even know what to call them actually I
have from my background but I took text from
Cortez's book decree and literally took passages
from the explaining the subjugation of the native
people and then I had different like religious um
imagery from it and I made three panels like that
But I also I didn't want to just talk about the
subjugation I also wanted to talk about what's
lacking or what's missing because of erasure And
so I made three Purepecha wall pieces to counteract the
the subjugation And so that one is in more about
like there's more indigenous um imagery and then
I wrote a poem and then translated to Purepecha Um
and I don't speak Purepecha just to be transparent
but I have this dictionary that translates
So I was able to do it through that And then
um my main background is in video and sound And
so I recorded literally the earth the vibrations
of the earth and the vibrations of the grape
vines and and also vibrations of the mission
buildings and making a soundsscape with these
vibrations while you're watching the imagery
of the land I also had the need to make more
things with my hand So I made ceramic sculptures
that simulate the goblier vine vining uh which
is like the style of vining that the Spanish
did 500 years ago I mean they don't really look
like vines to me Some people say like they look
like heartbeats or heart valves or something but
which is funny because the exhibition is called
uh Vino de Sangre Wow So it just felt very
appropriate that that's what people think it
is Um but I I just like some of my ceramic friends
like they or ceramicists they tell me that um clay
has memory and so I was like really thinking about
that and so when I was building it I was like clay
has memory clay has memory but you know since I've
been like literally thinking about the memory of
of you know from 500 years ago I kind of wanted to
put that energy into the sculptures and so that's
going to be part of it Yeah And it opens April 26
Hopefully it should be announced soon Yeah They're
working on the press release as we speak Yeah
Yeah And it's going to be at the Vincent Price
Art Museum Correct Yes The Vincent Price Art
Museum Yes And it's my first solo exhibition
And I don't think it's a coincidence that it's
there right you know down the street from the
San Gabriel Mission Yeah You know like these things
don't happen by accident It needed to happen there
you know because I think that we need to reconcile
with this past Yeah Yeah And your art practice and
your own being is such such a perfect conduit to
really work with these histories and to create
some magic out of these histories and really
transmute and transform I'm really hearing that
in what you're creating And yeah I just want to
thank you so much Eva for being on this podcast
and for sharing about your journey and about your
art practice It's such a gift to connect with you
and to be able to share your work with everyone
And I'm just you know as a way to close I would
love for you to share how folks can see more of
your art how they can stay connected with you
Yeah I'm I have my website which I try to update
when I have new content or whatever I mean not
content but just you know when I when I get more
like installation photos and stuff Um but also
just connecting in person to be honest Like the
exhibition is going to be open until midepptember
So I just hope that as many people can come
through and see it between April 26th and
September I think 14th or 15th I forget But you
know and then we're going to have programming Um I
really just want to be in conversation with people
because I think these stories are really important
to talk about And right now I'm just trying to
work on getting some programming where like we
have like talks and stuff Yeah So yeah just come
and say hi But if you can't you can always reach
me on social media you know of course Instagram
that kind of thing And I'll I'll make sure to put
your um links in the show notes and also this is
going to be on YouTube too So I will definitely
be sharing those links there too And just want
to thank you for being on Your Art is a spell
and just so so grateful to you for everything you
do for our communities and so excited for you to
really be stepping into your own art practice
and sharing it with all of us So thank you Eva
so much Oh thank you for having me I love talking
to you Yeah likewise All our conversations Yeah
I feel so moved by that conversation that we
just had with Eva I feel like there are so many
nuggets in there that I want to highlight One
of them being that it's so important for us to
really find our voice and to get clarity around
what our visions are what our purpose is and to
remember that there are always guides ancestors
beings out there wanting to connect with us and
wanting to give us some guidance around what our
next steps are It's so important to be open to be
ready for those moments when those little doorways
open or those little portals show up and we might
get invited into the next step of our life And
I also want to highlight how Eva has been such
a pillar of the underground performance and video
sound art communities in Los Angeles how much she
has sacrificed her own career her own time on
this planet to make space for other people And
I think this is something that is so commendable
and that I am just so in awe of because you really
hear from her how much she has worked to make sure
that other artists have space to share their art
And it makes me so happy to know that she is being
platformed that she is having time to really work
on her own practice and to share these really
important histories that as we talked about are
often obuscated negated not talked about It is
so important that she's using her art practice
to really bring forward these histories in a
contemporary art setting I am so excited for
the opening I'm definitely planning to be there
and I hope you will be too I hope we can see each
other there And in the meantime I want to invite
you to subscribe here to this channel on YouTube
if you're watching this on YouTube Subscribe
to the podcast Share this with a friend with
an artist friend who might need to hear these
messages And also leave us a review I will be
picking someone in the second to last episode
of season 1 for a free 30 minute tarot reading
with me So continue to leave your wonderful
comments I'm so grateful for the folks who've
already been leaving such lovely lovely reviews
of this podcast And so until next time do not
forget that your art is a spell and it will
change your life and the world around you Bye