The Piñata

The Piñata captures an Easter Sunday in 2017, when my family gathered in Compton for the first time in years. My cousins climbed onto the roof of the back house to hang a piñata, and for a moment, everything felt alive—music bumping, the smell of food and other things in the air, laughter, movement, and love. Though rooted in personal memory, this piece honors a broader sense of freedom, joy, and community that shaped me. These fleeting moments of togetherness stay with me—colorful, chaotic, and real. In a city often reduced to struggle, The Piñata is a celebration of our joy, our rituals, and the beauty in simply being.