In this reflective essay, Erika Abad traces her years-long collaboration with artist Justin Favela, exploring what it means to let go of past selves, embrace rest, and build community through Latinx art, memory, and care. Moving between studio moments, family ties, and cultural connection, this piece considers how slowness, joy, and collaboration shape new beginnings.

NoMAA’s exhibit would be the stepping-stone for everyone’s hair and identities

This exhibit challenges me to reframe past, present, and future as more cyclical than linear.