Meet Nube Hawk Cruz | Artist and Researcher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nube Hawk Cruz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nube Hawk, how do you think about risk?
Believe it or not I originally wanted to go to Law School. I worked in New York city as a housing eviction defense advocate after leaving Los Angeles. During the whole time I was thinking of potentially thinking of law as a serious career choice. I worked in East Harlem and the Bronx and would still make time to make art on the side, more specifically sculpture work with an art collective in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The reason why I am mentioning this is because I took a risk to move to the other side of the country from Los Angeles and pursue things that I thought I wanted. This experience was important because it led me to realize that art was the thing I wanted to invest in and furthermore my purpose. After realizing this I left law worked in public health and slowly dedicated my time to build my art practice and finish art school. I would of never been here if I didn’t take a risk and go for what I wanted to do, I think risk taking is so important. Especially for queer and people of color, we are taught or socialized to not see ourselves in specific professional roles or careers. We need to change that narrative and follow our dreams, wisely of course.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I will be starting my MFA at UCSD this fall and am a UCLA Art alumni. I have also been a recipient of multiple awards and recognitions including the Point Foundation BIPOC Award, Davis Putter Award, and a Native American Arts Grantee through the SF Queer Arts Foundation. My work has also been published in Munich Germany, in Atlanta Art Week and other places all over California. I was selected to be a resident at the very prestigious Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture 2024. I am very proud of all these achievements because there is very little representation of people from my communities. I am a queer, indigenous (Yaqui and Oaxaqueno), from a migrant indigenous family, Boyle Heights native, former homeless youth, and someone that has been surviving basically alone since I was a youth. I was also in and out of foster care because of the severity of abuse in my childhood home. I didn’t see anyone that looked like me or had any platforms.
I want to support the younger generation of queer and trans indigenous artists because I could of not made it without my chosen family, my gay anties, my trans siblings, and folks that have laid the path for people like me to go for their dreams. I am also a culmination of other native artists that have come before me and indigenous researchers and thinkers.
This was definitely not easy though. I had to push by the colorism that is embedded in the Latino community, and the homophobia that still sadly exists. I am proud that I always had a drive to believe in myself specifically because of my spiritual practice and the stories I heard of folks in my communities going through. The biggest lesson is to never give up, and to invest in yourself and believe in yourself regardless if there is no one that does around you.
I want the world to know that lgbtq young indigenous people are still here and that our voices, art, and work is important even beyond representation. I want the world to also support lgbt youth and foster youth, undocumented youth, and other disenfranchised youth that have no family. I want young people to never stop believing in their dreams and to always think ahead and have a plan A, B, C and D.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would definitely take them to Santee Alley to look at different things and have a good people watching time. Santee Alley is a staple of Los Angeles. I would also take them to Latinx With Plants shop run by my good friend Andi Xoch in Boyle Heights. Yeya’s restaurant which is a restaurant in Boyle Heights I grew up going to. And I would finish by exploring the bar scene in Downtown Los Angeles or other parts of the city.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I could not of been at the place where I am at without my chosen family, people that believed in me from the beginning, Boyle Heights, and people that have bought and supported my work and shows.

Website: https://nubexxcruz.wixsite.com/nube-cruz

Instagram: lallorona6969

Image Credits
Ningun Ser Humano (collaboration with Mi Casa No Es Su Casa Collective, Brooklyn)

Green photo (Model; Yue Begay)

Resisting sign (collaboration with Mi Casa No Es Su Casa Collective, Brooklyn)