I am a Mexican visual artist living in Montreal. A few years ago, I made the decision to leave what is known and familiar to me – my home, my family and my community in Mexico – in order to pursue doctoral studies in art education in Canada. The life experiences that came with this change of location have influenced my choice of research interests. Perhaps most salient among these is my ongoing doctoral research, which consists of a self-developed studio practice that focuses on the de-construction (Derrida, 1997) of my cultural identity. Having been a working artist for over ten years, I consider my studio practice the point of departure that leads to the formulation of further educational research questions. In other words, my studio is a site for exploration in which I test concepts and media, and in doing so, allow my intuition to take the lead. As a result, the (E) Motions project is a self-study in which I have explored the ways in which collage and digital media (photo and stop motion animation) may communicate the experience of belonging a not belonging to a place. The results of my self-study have illuminated the possibilities of using these media in order to develop community-based educational activities engaged with the exploration of cultural identity.
