About
I grew up in South Florida, so beaches, blinding sunshine, and crazy crap that only happens in Florida. I have a love-hate relationship with the place, but it will always be home in some weird way for me. I started drawing as soon as I could hold a pencil and had a photographic memory, so I’ve been told. But really, I have filmographic memory as I see strings of visuals and memories of moments rather than isolated pictures. My mom saw to it that I stayed focused using the “art side” of my brain; she thought art was sorely lacking in education and part of the reason society had become so flavorless, copycat, and depressed. Maybe that was why, after 12 insufferable years of math, I needed a good long break before starting college to find my passion, my drive, and my truth.
Following is a smattering of my work over the years… like all the way back.
Plans to blow up my Algebra test
11th grade - AP Art, Social Commentary
10th grade - Algebra Class Distraction
12th Grade - Finance Class Distraction
Wandering Off during Algebra Class
12th Grade – Feeling Lost
4th Grade – "If Eggs Could Fly" Design 1
4th Grade – "If Eggs Could Fly" Design 2
3rd Grade - Distraction from doing "Core" Math
11th Grade – The Icecream Man
11th Grade – Game Day
10th Grade – Social Commentary
9th Grade – Distraction from Algebra II
10th Grade – AP Art, Be Still My Broken Heart
10th Grade – Runnin' Outta Juice
My mom was always filming us, trying to capture every fleeting moment. She’d get really emotional when she’d look back at what she recorded. I think the worst day for her was when she realized she hadn’t recorded our voices over the years, and it was “too late!”. I thought how crazy that those ephemeral voice recordings or the sound of our laugh would bring this woman to tears; she said she’d forgotten what our voices sounded like, and she “longed for them.” Film has the power to transport, to connect, to unearth something buried deep. Following are some videos I edited with my mom; she taught me the basics of Adobe Premiere and was responsible for hounding my ass over the last 20 years not to waste my “God-given talent.”
Finding My Way
I finished high school and felt like a ship that had just been cast adrift without a rudder. We had moved to the Northeast shortly before my senior year, and while I thought a change in scenery from Florida life would wake me up, I realized I was still me, stuck in the same skin. I needed a spark; no, I needed to light a fire.
My dad had been talking about the Camino de Santiago also known as The Way; a pilgrimage from the Great Pyrenees mountains in France to Santiago de Compostela, in Spain – 550 miles. The pilgrimage dates back to the Middle Ages and has been walked by religious royalty and impoverished souls, Romans and Celts, Spaniards and French, and the modern-day pilgrim. Some use technology to “enhance” their experience; I decided to just walk, discovering my own way, following the bright yellow arrows deep into the history of the world — my boots fitting into the grooves worn by carts, along roads built by the Romans over a thousand years ago. Tracing the steps of millions who had walked these paths before me — finding their Way. Following is my visual story during the 35 days of my journey.
Life Lessons
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Create amazing stories through film.
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Not leveraging my mom’s direct connection for an internship at Epic Games.
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When people offer to connect you to someone they think can help you get a leg up, that’s a gift. Be thankful, and take them up on it.
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Your moment is now. Don’t spend time focussing on the nothing and miss the something.
Write me an email or message me on Snapchat (Kai Grijalva).
If all else fails, you can call me: +1 (954) 258-7573