Which cemetery would you like to live in?
In so many! Where I have found and find life is in cemeteries. The cemetery in Burbank, California, where I grew up, was my favorite place since I was a child…
Because?
It was relaxing and spiritual and the place where I could be creative wrapped in an aura of mystery and with an exhilarating touch of risk and celebration…
Cities of the dead?
And in California we lived them with Hispanic culture… Long live Mrs. Death! On the other hand, in the white middle-class suburbs, the dead were always depressing.
Have you thought about what your funeral will be like?
I’m still planning it, but I want it to be a celebration of life and not a sterile lament. Do you know my age?
I prefer that you tell me.
When I was 10 years old I felt old as if I were 80. Since then I have been rejuvenating over the years by drawing…
Why was he old as a child and vice versa?
One day the kids at school tied me to a tree and left me there for hours: at first I screamed. Anyway, it is normal that now I feel young being old and that I aspire to one day be a 13-year-old girl.
If it weren’t who he is, I’d say he’s joking.
I am not kidding. I continue to be surprised – more and more – by how strange it is to live. Maybe when you die the last thing you see is… I don’t know. Maybe my dog. I’ll draw it.
Why draw it?
I have had problems, like everyone else, but drawing them somehow helped me and helps me suffer them better.
Didn’t your family help you?
Family sounds good. But we could also go to its dark side…
I know.
…The Adams family, anyway, says a lot of things like that. And that is the beauty of life, that there is good and bad.
But always drawing and creating?
I started shooting in Super8 when I was a teenager and at age 10 I won a contest for having designed the best “trash” sign in the city of Burbank.
Congratulations.
But the best thing is that it still makes me excited to remember it and to be here now in Barcelona. Increasingly.
Is growing up becoming a child?
In my case, I was lucky that I wasn’t diagnosed with anything as a child. So families did not spend money diagnosing their children. And it went well for me. I had problems and I learned to overcome them by drawing. No pills or diagnoses.
Have you been able to guide yourself in your presentation?
I’ve gotten lost, like everyone else; but it’s part of the charm.
If you don’t know where you’re going, can’t you get lost?
As in life itself, entry and exit do not depend on you.
Does Barcelona connect with its art?
I have lived in Europe since 2001, because here I connect better with myself.
Do you feel threatened by the artificial intelligence you draw?
The other day they sent me a movie made with AI in which I was seen drawing Disney movies.
What did you feel when you saw it?
At first it scared me. And then I got depressed.
Didn’t you find that funny?
I felt like someone had sucked my soul out of my body. You will only understand it the day you see yourself in a real movie doing something you have never done or wanted to do… It was not pleasant.
Is Disney so traumatic for you?
On the contrary: I have drawn versions of Disney drawings that I found fun and that I really liked. But that was seeing me… It was like my soul was stolen. I don’t want to go through that again.
I don’t know if we will have a choice.
And I’m sure there will be those who appreciate the opportunity to create art that AI provides. Like all technology, it can be used for good or evil. I like to draw by hand, but there were those who would complain that there were pencils or brushes. Now I prefer to touch paper, paint, rather than a computer.
And do you feel comfortable in a world that already only watches movies on platforms?
I have never considered whether I like them or not: I have only had to face them and manage the relationship to continue making films.
Do you prefer to go to the movies and be seen there?
Everything is valid. I’m not going to choose. There are those who still prefer to go to a theater and see real actors saying words that someone wrote a thousand years ago. And it is beautiful.
