What motivates me to create is love for my people. I believe hispanicized Natives from northern New Mexico are misunderstood. We don't know very much about our history. This leads us astray from happiness and health. We were assimilated and have forgotten our Indigenous identity. The vision for my fashion collection ‘Capulin, Moras y Pinon’ is to pay homage to a moment in history of the survival of my ancestors. My collection will introduce its audience to a less often told history. I hope my art challenges the limited education of Indigenous peoples. My collection connects to my previous work in how it depicts women's bodies and the land in an affectionate way by focusing on things that make us resilient. It fits into a larger conversation about decolonization and the wellbeing of the future. It is about a very specific family history but speaks to a larger story of survival through colonialism.

My art discusses how people’s appearance has been used to empower and oppress. Colonialism controlled how we look and dress. My collection explores how we protected future generations by changing our clothing but continued our foraging practices. This comes from my line of work that uses memories of nature to create a clothing identity that displays Resilience. I am inspired by native plants and animals, the clothing my ancestors wore and the way they stayed stylish in any circumstance. I am motivated to heal and deconstruct colonial trauma and pave the way for the seventh generation.

Learn more about Carly’s work: https://carlytrujilloart.weebly.com/