This video recounts my healing journey from a serious spinal injury in 2010, to the artist I am today; from breaking my neck & being bed ridden, to becoming a Filipinx goldsmith. Living through such a traumatic accident & the pain that followed, taught me how to surrender to the present moment, how to receive when I could give nothing in return & the importance cultivating of joy.
I turned to creativity as a way to cultivate joy & reclaim some of my life from the severe, unrelenting chronic pain I experience everyday. Doing things that brought me joy was a way to have pain take up less space in my life. This, in turn, led me to retraining as a goldsmith & opening my own business making custom jewelry, Samonte Cruz Studios.
My art is now my work and my life, although it still shares that space with the chronic pain I still experience. The art I create through Samonte Cruz Studios feeds my spirit by giving me opportunities to reconnect to my culture, through the ancient traditions my ancestors mastered; goldsmithing & metalwork.
Thanks to Producer Amy Mahardy and the Creative Services team at CW11 in Seattle for helping to tell my story.