Mar Bravo is an audiovisual artwork consisting of 30 short videos, each under a minute, that I created daily during the New Wave Art Weekend residency program in West Palm Beach. I was an artist-in-residence during the pandemic and the 2020 election campaign. The political climate was boiling, and with this work, I document more than my artistic journey; I offer statements in response to gentrification, country politics, identity, immigration, and the use of art as a medium to celebrate life and convey a message of hope amid a global crisis. For 30 days, using only an iPhone as my technological gear, I filmed and edited videos, created audio pieces — from sound art to songs that accompanied the videos — built video props, and performed on them. In addition, I posted the videos daily to my Instagram account. Artist Residencies are opportunities to work outside your comfort zone; it was a great moment to combine all the mediums I work with.

Art journals are not just for taking notes and sketches for future art projects. In many cases, these books compile experiences, becoming a record of your life, a logbook. They contain personal information, aesthetic and political statements; they document what it means to be an artist in our times. Throughout my artistic journey, these art journals have been an integral part of my path, and I consider them personal objects rather than just works of art. I do not exhibit these works frequently, but I needed a way to share some of them with the public. Creating videos of the journals to later distribute on my social media channels is a great way to do it. Because it makes part of my artistic process accessible to all, audiences can get to know me better, and that is essential when considering people’s accessibility to art. Additionally, for these art journal videos, I create specific audio pieces to enhance the audiovisual experience.