Movement can be swift, it can be slow, forwards or backwards, left or right. Distance and time are its key elements, and for Ernesto Cabral, whether it be making home in different cities over the course of his life so far or watching basketball players in their element go coast-to-coast or soar above the rim, it’s that word movement that represents a pivotal theme in his life.
Now a collage artist and animator while also studying at OCAD, the Mexican-Canadian also known as abrokeniris on Instagram is excited to showcase his talents through movement when his work is featured as part of the Welcome Toronto Creators Program over the course of the game between the Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Lakers on Friday March 18.
Cabral didn’t find basketball or art, basketball and art found him.
Growing up in Puebla, located in the southern part of central Mexico, Cabral spent his early childhood days attending soccer practices as is custom there but never really enjoyed it. He didn’t have any kind of passion for it, nor was he very good at it, but it was something that helped to fit in with his friends because they all loved it.
As his parents searched for new opportunities, they arrived in Montreal in 2002 and with not being able to attend school as they weren’t permanent residents yet, YMCA became a go-to for not only learning English but for Cabral and his brother to expend their energy. It was an instant hit, as even the idea of running suicides was something Ernesto enjoyed.
After about nine months in Montreal, the Cabral family moved back to Puebla before immigrating to Winnipeg in 2005 where Ernesto’s passion for the Raptors blossomed. All Ernesto’s friends’ homes had basketball hoops and the same purple and black basketball that he can never forget. It also made him realize just how much the Raptors didn’t belong to one city, but the country.
“Once I came to Canada, I was back at it with people who looked at it as their game, it’s what they were striving for,” Cabral said. “Sure, they might also play hockey on the side, but, you could tell that basketball and by extension the Raptors was what they ate, what they breathed, what they lived for and I wanted to do that, too.”
Serving as his biggest inspiration was a basketball book by Sports Illustrated his parents gifted him when he was 10-years-old but didn’t really peruse the 200 pages of iconic images through history to absorb until much later. When he looks back now, he does feel this was the first seed that made him view photography as art as a child.
Cabral also loved fitness, chemistry, and biology, in high school and so believed he would pursue something in sports sciences in his higher education. He was so passionate about biology, in fact, that he took the Grade 12 level course in his second semester of Grade 11. Within the first week, though, he acknowledged he wasn’t ready for it and needed to save it for after the summer. Cabral didn’t have the option of having a spare, so seeked advice from a guidance counsellor who pointed him in the direction of photography.
Clicking away on his iPod for a few months, Cabral noticed a fire burning within himself to excel at it. The logical next step was to buy a film camera and so when he went to Mexico during March break to visit his grandparents, he returned with a camera purchased at a flea market. Taking photos became an obsession and by Grade 12, he loved the art of setting up for photos and practiced with plenty of street photography. Then came the art of Adobe Photoshop and figuring out the best ways to enhance an image. Cabral knew deep down this was very much something he could pursue as a career.
“Collages, for me, it’s like a perfect form of immigrant art,” Cabral said. “It’s like keeping a scrapbook.”
Having become a veteran of Eurostepping from one city to another, Cabral has established a checklist of the items he most needs: clothes, toys, basketball gear, and a box full of memories from back home. His most prized possession is a cork board filled with photos that reflect his life over the years. The Cabral family moved as their mom’s career did for the most part. She did her Masters in Winnipeg and then her PhD in London, Ontario, went to Pennsylvania to work for a year by herself, before landing a job at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.
That proved serendipitous for Cabral, as it opened the door for his first opportunity to watch the Raptors in person at Budweiser Gardens in London in 2009. It was for a pre-season game against the Philadelphia 76ers, and just like any young fan, he was hoping to see stars such as Chris Bosh and Andre Iguodala exhibit their skills. That wish wasn’t granted as they both sat out and left Cabral a bit frustrated, but all was forgotten as he took notice of DeMar DeRozan for the very first time.
“I remember seeing him just slam it near the end of the game,” Cabral said. “It was one of those typical DeRozan slams and me and my brother were like, ‘Whoa! Whoever that is, he’s gonna be dope!’ That’s a memory that I cherish a lot.”
Cabral was among those fans who were devastated seeing someone who had carved out a home in Toronto and embraced being a leader for the franchise be dealt away. He hoped that the Raptors would see it out with that core group and allow them to continue honing their craft and perhaps one day ascending to the ultimate goal of winning an NBA title. He’s got no complaints about how things worked out with not only Kawhi Leonard that season but the hiring of Nick Nurse as well, but does miss the bond DeRozan shared with Kyle Lowry. As Cabral knows better than many, this is all part and parcel of relocating your life from time to time.
Moving from one place to the other has been the theme of Cabral’s life. It’s also what most fascinates him about the players on the court. How did they get from Point A to Point B? Not just within the 94x50 they play on but in a big picture sense of what they’ve accomplished in their career. It’s one of the reasons why, among today’s Raptors core, he identifies most with Pascal Siakam, a Cameroonian who moved to the USA and then Canada because of basketball and has since made Toronto his home while achieving incredible highs both at an individual level and with the Raptors as a team.
“I’m a huge fan of his story,” Cabral said. “I’d like to think that I see some of my own version of my life with him and how he’s come up in the league and even his relationship to basketball. I was going through the team and noticed that we have several players from different countries and I really want to make work that would speak to that.”
In his most recent times, there hasn’t had to be much movement as he’s settled into Toronto life. But as Cabral continues to establish his base — a bit like Siakam — the rise of his work and where it could take him is evident for all to see.