Cama'i, Gui Bo. I also go by Archive. I am a neurospicy, two-spirited, disabled, Native Alaskan/Filipino/African American youth. I am a warrior who has survived domestic violence and SA.
I have always dreamed of being an artist / storyteller since I was a young child. My mother first taught me how to draw, I remember being mesmerized by her sketches. We have both been drawn to eyes, ravens, and the ocean.
Due to being trapped in North Star and other facilities from 15-17 due to my suicidal ideation, I graduated as a super senior in 2022 from S.a.v.e high-school. They saved my life and I wouldn't have been able to graduate without them.
In 2023 I ended up homeless, escaping bad situations. I ended up at Covenant House Alaska. I found some mentors who helped me find confidence in myself / my art and some youth I called family. But I was also severely retraumitize by this experience and first hand watch many of those youth die, domestic violence, SA, drug abuse, and a variety of mistreatment by staff. All of those staff I found comfort in left for a variety of reseason. But in the small moments of light, my mentors taught me to paint, started helping me figure out how to make prints and stickers, and more. I Joined JAG and had an internship as a peer support specialist while staying at the shelter. But my health grew lethally bad and the increasing signs of things only getting worse at the shelter with expected free labor made me quit. But I still have a deep passion for advocacy and social work.
Art for me is advocacy, healing, history, teachings and culture. As a child I would say "art is my first language! Speaking is second." Growing up, dancing was the only time the extreme anxiety left my body and I could flow. Drawing was the only time it felt like I could communicate without stuttering or struggling for explaining myself. Writing felt like the only time I could see myself in all the colonized media shoved before me. Every piece I make is a hug and a kiss to my child self who didn't feel like they'd make it to 12, then 16, then 18.