My outfit is made from black and white denim to create a striped pattern. My goal was to create a Native and Mexican looking fabric, and to show how we can upcycle and use fabric that’s already been made.

For my sewing practice, I usually use old clothes I find at thrift stores, so I wanted to represent my practice of upcycling to show we can often make what we need from things that already exist.

This piece was made with the idea that the white and black fabric represents the good and bad that exists in the human experience. Another meaning of the two colors is the white as a representation of my colonized mind, and the black fabric as my spiritual heart. The red fringe is for my bloodline and how I walk in between both worlds.

In life, as I breathe, I reach into the void of existence. In order for something to exist you must become it, embodying what you seek. So, I must “be it” as far as living a good and healthy life connected to our Creator. To be it, it exists. It exists because I am it.

I’m always trying to understand the world and why we all feel things in different ways. I am able to release what does not serve me, and stride into what feeds my soul, my mind ,and my health.

I will leave you with this: It’s time to stand up and be who you are. The most important thing we can do is be our individual selves and shine.

Aho