Ooxono (From Here) (VIDEO LINK)

This film by Isaac Michael Ybarra (Tongva, Chumash, Chicano), juxtaposes visual themes of decolonial cultural preservation and urban/invasive infrastructure. Ooxono (From Here) is a short poem pushing back against the use of the term Urban Native within the context of Tovaangar (Los Angeles) and the erasure it creates against First Peoples.

Ooxono (O'o-ha-ono) translates/refers to the English term "Land".

Isaac Michael Ybarra, a visual artist and storyteller, is Tongva, Chumash, and Xicano. Grounded in his ancestral cultivation, he utilizes film, photography, and poetry to amplify decolonization narratives and reclaim Indigenous pedagogies. Through his art, Isaac seeks to challenge the dominance of the human experience and instead honors the interconnectedness of all beings. He embraces the values of Indigenous Futurism to retell the past and present, envisioning a future guided by his community's stories, visions, and desires. As a steward of Indigenous cultural conservation, Isaac Michael weaves together diverse mediums, crafting evocative narratives that honor his ancestral homelands and uplift his communities.

This exhibition is part of the Cultural Worker Apprentice program and partially supported by the California Arts Council, the Union Pacific Foundation and the Constellations Culture Change Fund.