Juan Fernández’s work analyzes the various ways digital social media is used by contemporary Chicana/o/x artists & cultural producers. His current study focuses on the performance of ethnicity, gender, cultural citizenship and sexuality within social networking apps like Instagram and the effects of the digital identity on the reflected community. Juan is currently an M.A. candidate in Media Studies + Social Change at Queens College, CUNY. He is also a graduate of UCLA holding a BA in Chicana/o Studies & LGBTQ Studies. His previous work as a scholar/activist has focused on gay Chicano fiction & storytelling, performance, and archiving Queer Chicana/o/x cultural productions. This includes archiving the work of the Maricón Collective for the UCLA Chicano Studies Resource Center. He also created & produced the Movida Storytelling Project in collaboration with the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance.
Photo credit: Rigoberto Marquez