00:00:00.864 --> 00:00:05.864
(waves crashing)
(seagulls calling)

00:00:07.750 --> 00:00:10.050
- [Ana Teresa] The Pacific
Ocean does traverse

00:00:10.050 --> 00:00:11.873
Mexico and the United States.

00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:15.400
And this idea of flow and tides

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and how the currents move so freely

00:00:18.651 --> 00:00:23.199
and how we're not allowed
to move that freely.

00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:25.949
(waves crashing)

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(quiet bouncing music)

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- [Ana Teresa] There's
nothing more heartbreaking

00:01:56.730 --> 00:01:59.590
than to have someone
you love be right there

00:01:59.590 --> 00:02:03.253
and not be able to just reach across.

00:02:04.160 --> 00:02:08.920
I saw this big beast
just laying on the sand.

00:02:08.920 --> 00:02:11.230
It feels like a huge dragon that is

00:02:11.230 --> 00:02:13.250
cutting across the terrain.

00:02:13.250 --> 00:02:15.140
And then you see the tail of it

00:02:15.140 --> 00:02:17.943
penetrate into the ocean
and part the waves.

00:02:19.150 --> 00:02:21.420
I wanna be able to get rid of it,

00:02:21.420 --> 00:02:25.010
even if just for an instant,
even if for a glance

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people look up and it doesn't exist.

00:02:27.325 --> 00:02:29.908
(music)

00:02:45.330 --> 00:02:47.670
My name is Ana Teresa Fernandez.

00:02:47.670 --> 00:02:51.490
I'm a visual artist, I'm
originally from Mexico.

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I grew up in Tampico, Tamaulipas

00:02:53.640 --> 00:02:57.800
which is a small town in
the Gulf Coast of Mexico.

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When I was 11 years old my parents told us

00:03:00.260 --> 00:03:02.513
that we were gonna be
living in the States.

00:03:04.340 --> 00:03:06.420
It's a huge privilege to be brought up

00:03:06.420 --> 00:03:08.650
in two places at the same time,

00:03:08.650 --> 00:03:11.473
heavily influenced by
both sides of the border.

00:03:24.010 --> 00:03:27.370
My mother has been an
incredible inspiration

00:03:27.370 --> 00:03:30.320
for my character but also for my work.

00:03:30.320 --> 00:03:32.420
She started documenting the border

00:03:32.420 --> 00:03:35.470
right about the time that
I left for university.

00:03:35.470 --> 00:03:37.543
We became artists at the same time.

00:03:38.890 --> 00:03:42.053
She picked up a camera and
I picked up a paintbrush.

00:03:42.930 --> 00:03:46.320
There is this very strong silent

00:03:46.320 --> 00:03:49.380
resilience that I find in her.

00:03:49.380 --> 00:03:52.590
My performances, my paintings,
a lot of the imagery

00:03:52.590 --> 00:03:55.200
I use has been based on that silent way

00:03:55.200 --> 00:03:58.117
of protesting through your actions.

00:05:40.390 --> 00:05:43.190
Can you bake us a recipe to
make the perfect sky color?

00:05:43.190 --> 00:05:47.613
- Oh I'll try, you may be a dreamer.

00:05:48.671 --> 00:05:51.588
(machine whirring)

00:05:53.552 --> 00:05:56.135
(music)

00:05:58.092 --> 00:06:01.008
- Thank you so much.
- You're welcome.

00:06:01.008 --> 00:06:03.591
(music)

00:06:23.810 --> 00:06:27.760
- [Around the border there
has been a growing community

00:06:27.760 --> 00:06:30.197
where it's friends who've been apart

00:06:30.197 --> 00:06:32.030
and it's all about celebrating

00:06:32.030 --> 00:06:33.580
that moment of coming together.

00:06:48.140 --> 00:06:51.780
They know that they need to
create that support system.

00:06:51.780 --> 00:06:54.810
How can we get you
closer to your loved ones

00:06:54.810 --> 00:06:57.120
and they do it and it's incredibly

00:06:57.120 --> 00:06:59.080
powerful and beautiful to witness.

00:07:07.799 --> 00:07:10.549
(peaceful music)

00:07:40.293 --> 00:07:42.543
(laughing)

00:08:22.810 --> 00:08:25.280
- [Ana Teresa] We have
to fight to create spaces

00:08:25.280 --> 00:08:27.173
where people can come back together.

00:08:30.369 --> 00:08:33.536
(upbeat music)

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That's when art becomes
incredibly useful as a tool

00:08:41.070 --> 00:08:44.273
where you allow people to
reimagine what's possible.

00:08:50.230 --> 00:08:52.910
It's a collective insistence
of yes we want this thing away.

00:08:52.910 --> 00:08:55.687
We want to erase as much of it as we can.

00:09:55.971 --> 00:09:58.630
I think it's one of the
most impactful moments

00:09:58.630 --> 00:10:00.890
as an artist, as a human being.

00:10:00.890 --> 00:10:03.610
I realize that the piece
was gonna translate

00:10:03.610 --> 00:10:06.543
it from being a wall that divides

00:10:06.543 --> 00:10:08.823
through the ocean and
the sky that expands.

00:10:10.850 --> 00:10:13.170
I couldn't think of a
much more peaceful way

00:10:13.170 --> 00:10:17.150
of doing it then just by
using my weapon which is paint

00:10:17.150 --> 00:10:19.550
in a very poetic way where
I'm not telling people

00:10:19.550 --> 00:10:22.920
what to think, I'm just pulling

00:10:22.920 --> 00:10:26.223
down the sky to kiss the ground again.

00:10:29.700 --> 00:10:33.200
Nature and humanity has seasons

00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:39.240
where you allow for growth
and what we're doing

00:10:39.340 --> 00:10:42.183
with borders is stunting that growth.

00:10:44.070 --> 00:10:47.320
And why is that, why can't we just

00:10:47.320 --> 00:10:49.670
continue to flow with
the ocean back and forth?

00:10:54.574 --> 00:10:57.741
(upbeat music)