"Abya yala" by Onecho aka Juan Usubillaga

My intention to collaborate with the exhibition of Crossing Borders is to show my perspective of borders as a mestizo artist , (mestizo meaning that my ancestry is a mix of indigenous and european, Kichwa/Muisca/Tayrona from Ecuador and Colombia and basque from Spain) the theme of crossing borders is relevant to my work and my identity. Borders in the Americas are a granted reality and enforced by countries and our modernity, but for indigenous ancestors this continent was not separated. For my ancestors the territory from patagonia to alaska was known as one continuous land called “Abya Yala” meaning land in its full maturity and is seen as territory that has caretakers and community instead of owners, plants and animals including humans are also seen as part of the territory that are intimately interconnected and belong to Allpamama (mother earth) and not the other way around. What colonization envisioned and started with the invention of borders is still affecting people and ecosystems all over our world. Indigenous people of the Americas consider borders to be unnatural and alienating, going hand by hand to the privatization of land and water.

Artist's Bio:

I became interested in Art As a kid Because I loved wandering the streets of Caracas in Venezuela and looking at the street art and the graffitti, art museums and galleries. I felt that the city was very alive with real people and anything was possible, And I could literally see and hear the marks of the cultures in the murals, music , the food and politics.