MEET SERENA ROJAS KINCHLA
Oh, Serena, my beautiful mutual friend. I met her years ago in a smoke-filled music venue on the lower East Side of NYC. She was gorgeous and married to a rock star. I was young and enamored. It was fleeting, not sure if we even spoke long or at all after being introduced. Flash forward to Facebook years later and voilà! There she was! Now, a mama of two, still stunning and creating a life and film around her love for children, traveling and consciousness. We connected. I gave birth to a new photography project entitled GODDESSES and I knew I had to capture her. She is the Hindu goddess and the Burning Man hotness–the wise, pensive, brilliant mind and the proud owner of a strong, honest, piercing heart. I am thrilled because I think you can truly feel these vibrations through the images we manifested.
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DLV :: DID YOU FIND YOUR CAREER OR DID IT FIND YOU? HOW? WHEN? WHERE? WHY?
S :: I studied Marine Biology for 4 years in high school between the ages 14 and 17. I loved it and was planning to continue that field into college. Visions of dolphins being my friends and saving the whales.
However, when I was 17 in 12th grade, Bruce Weber was scouting for locations for his latest Calvin Klein campaigns. He visited my house for a possible setting and saw a photo of me. I suppose he thought I was pretty or something. Next thing I knew I was shooting with him along side of about 40 other models. Models I had seen in magazines so I was nervous and felt really out of place. He works like a mad scientist, combining people together and shooting loads of film, none of us knowing who will land the campaign in the end. To my startling surprise, I was chosen for the 3 Calvin Klein ads, placed on billboards and magazines across the country. He changed my life. Made me make a left turn instead of a right. Thank you Bruce, otherwise I may be studying plankton in a white coat in a lab somewhere. So at 17, I moved from the pristine setting of Santa Barbara to NYC. I was fortunate to travel the world for 10 years as a model, doing magazines and commercials. The world has been my greatest teacher, different cultures inspire me to my core, awe me, and keep my inner light shining (as fruity as that may sound).
Because of the commercial work I dabbled in, I decided to move Los Angeles to try acting. I quickly landed a role on “Days of Our Lives” for 1 and a half years. Hats off to all the soap stars today. Wow it’s a lot of work!
With my love of travel and discovering new places, it naturally evolved for me to create my present project. I just completed a film and a book for children titled, “The Magic Ball”. Being untrained in filmmaking yet holding onto a dream, I grabbed my video camera and set off. All I knew was that I wanted to make something for kids and big kids as well, to be able see other children around our planet through music and dance. Music is my life force as well. I wanted to bring the world and great music into our children’s living rooms. Magically it all came together, after about 4 years of work to complete. It has recently won many awards which I still can’t believe! One of my favorite reviews is “the cinematography is outstanding!” That makes me laugh.
So if anyone ever says to you, “you can’t do it”, don’t believe them; because you can!
DLV :: WHERE WERE YOU RAISED? WHAT DO YOU MISS MOST ABOUT IT?
S :: I was raised in Santa Barbara, California. I lived there until I was 17 and honestly I don’t miss much about it. The time I lived there was absolutely perfect but I’m a different person now, it’s far too quiet and not varied enough. My wonderful friends I grew up with are still in my life and my beautiful family by my side.
DLV :: NAME THREE PEOPLE YOU ADMIRE AND WHY.
S :: Osho- the greatest philosopher and teacher. I regularly go to his ashram in India which is truly is home away from home. There I have learned meditation and letting go of the past and to be here in the now. No time like the present, right?
Bill Hicks- a true prophet through comedy. No one has ever come close to delivering the straight truth, with wit and humor. Bill’s timing and message is mind blowing. I wish is he had lived longer so we could hear his rants about the political mayhem today.
Jerry Garcia- Like all teenagers I was a searcher, searching for something intangible I suppose. Thanks to “The Grateful Dead” I had many “mind-expanding” experiences and came to realize there is nothing outside ourselves to search for, it’s all inside us already and we are all connected in this beautiful tapestry that we call life.
DLV :: IN THREE WORDS DESCRIBE LIFE.
S :: Miraculous, ever-changing, and humorous.
DLV :: WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST FEAR?
S :: Dying a long slow painful death with my family watching and mourning. Yuck. Pull the plug please
DLV :: WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST LOVE?
S :: My 2 incredible boys, that feeling inside me when I’m doing something creative and I’m so enthralled in it there is no sense of time and all of YOU of course
DLV :: IN AN IMAGINARY WORLD, JUST BY WALKING BY YOU, STRANGER’S COULD ACCESS ONE PIECE OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT YOU THAT YOU WANTED THEM TO KNOW MOST. WHAT IS IT?
S :: That I know nothing and I’m very clumsy. So if I stumble while you’re walking by, please try and catch me.
And to quote Bill Hicks: “Life is only a dream and we are the imagination of ourselves.”
