Describe yourself as an artist and explain what drew you to visual arts. Was there a moment in your childhood that you became interested in the arts or was it a natural inclination into the medium?
I always struggle with describing myself as an artist because like most artist I struggle with believing I truly am an artist or believing that my artwork is even good. Aside from that, I feel I am always evolving as an artist, and I have many styles and mediums I like to work in. I get bored easy, so my ideas and styles are constantly changing. As far as what inspires the subject matter I create in my art, there are many things that inspire me. Conversations in my daily life, classy cars, typography, music, art history, the writing culture from New York, local artists, my surroundings, the good the bad and the ugly times in life all inspire my work. My mind is usually scattered so my work is usually a reflection of me. At times my work comes across as collaged or random compiled images, a lot of how my mind works.
What drew me to the visual arts were many things in my life. My father was in one of El Pasos oldest car clubs known as “NEWBREED”, he would exhibit his Chevy truck titled “Brown Sugar” at cruises and car shows from the 70’s up until the 80’s. My father would work on and do body work on classical cars, and I would watch him work on these classical cars when I was a child. I think that sparked some interest in painting and creating at a young age. My mother was also a special needs teacher in elementary and high schools, and she would do arts and crafts with her students. So, I think they both kind of implemented that creativity into my life. Now as far as what I am doing now, I’d have to say the artwork that was being done with aerosol paint on walls in my neighborhood in the nineties has deeply influenced what I am doing now as an artist. Overall, I have always been a creative person as a child, I spent a lot of time alone because I had two sisters and what they were into I wasn’t really into. So, I had to get creative and make spending time by myself fun. Not to say I didn’t have friends but I couldn’t hang out with them all the time so had to create my own world sometimes being the only boy.
How have you evolved as an artist overtime? Whether that be through your physical work or how you approach and view visual arts?
Well, I been creating art since a very young age, especially during the nineties. I remember my cousins and other older people in my neighborhood would write on walls with aerosol paint and you would even see murals done with aerosol paint on music videos from artists such as Tupac, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Notorious B.I.G. These artists were very popular in my neighborhood and youth during the nineties. All those influences inspired me to be as good as the art I would see on the walls in my neighborhood and the music videos. I think I was about 10yrs old at this time when I decided to do the type of art I was seeing in my neighborhood and in the music videos in the nineties. I wanted to be as good or maybe even better as the artist I would see in the neighborhood. I would say experiencing those artist painting murals in front of me in the nineties did something to me and I never looked back since. I have always been drawing and trying to excel in my craft no matter what medium it may be. I would consider myself a very competitive person, especially when it comes to my art. My surroundings have always influenced my art even up until today. For the most part my art has always been there for me during the good and the bad times in my life, it’s always been a way for me to escape the problems life brings, it’s been therapeutic for me on many occasions. I never did it for the money to be honest, it was always just a hobby for me. Since, I got my G.E.D. in 2010 and decided to try school again and study art, it has shown me that I can make money off my art and that I can do so. It just takes hard work and dedication like anything else in life. I have also seen how I can use art to help make a difference in the community and people’s lives in a positive way. This has opened doors for me and changed why I do my art as well. I can say that today I am not as selfish of an artist as I used to be. To sum it up, whether I get paid to do art or not, I can’t stop doing it at this point. I have invested so many years of my life into creating that I don’t see myself ever stopping for anything to be honest but who knows that could change at any time. I’m just living day by day and enjoying whatever opportunities has to offer me now.
What form of visual arts do you gravitate more towards (painting, muraling, etc)? Why?
I would say I gravitate towards murals and drawing because that’s what I started doing first.I guess you can say drawing and murals were my first love. I was more exposed to drawing, painting cars and murals as a child. Those have been a part of my life the longest. I like painting murals with aerosol because I been doing it for so long and the process is way quicker than working with oils, acrylic, and brushes on canvas or a larger scale. For me it’s quicker. There is a way to paint with brushes quicker, but I have yet to figure it out, so I usually stick to aerosol when working on a larger scale. Even though I lean more towards drawing, painting, and murals I honestly try not to limit myself to those specific mediums. Since I have started studying art at UTEP and working for Socorro, I have found out that I am not that bad at sculpting and mixed media art. At this point in my life as an artist I am more open minded and willing to try more mediums and techniques that are suggested by my classmates and professors.
What did this art workshop consist of?
This art workshop was a community engaged mural curated by the Rubin Center for the Annunciation House in El Paso, TX. The idea was to offer more paid community engaged opportunities for UTEP art students. The Annunciation House a nonprofit organization that houses families who have migrated from places such as Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, Costa Rica, and many more. When we spoke to Ruben Garcia the director of the Annunciation House, he stated that he wanted us to create something welcoming, colorful, joyful. Each door that we were going to apply a mural on was titled a foreign city such as Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and many more. We would also be applying murals on the spaces in between the doors. So, part of the workshop was to do research and come up with a design that was based off the cities on each door. Once we did research and decided on a final sketch for our surfaces, we then began the polytab process. Polytab is a non-woven fabric used in the garment industry that is like interfacing. The material is lighter in weight than canvas and can take on the form of the surfaced it is being applied to. The advantage of working with this material is that you can work inside of the studio and don’t have to worry about running into any problems due to the weather. You can work with just about any medium on this material, once its prepped and primed, it is like canvas. We then projected our sketches and painted the projected images with Nova Acrylic Paint and assorted brushes. It was a total of eight UTEP art students working on these polytab murals for a total of 20hrs for four weeks. The best way I can explain it is that it’s like applying giant stickers onto the wall.
Why did you feel it was significant to take part in this?
I felt that it could be of great use to our SYIC Art Program here in Socorro. It is a great way to create a mural with the youth and community and work inside. Sometimes it’s too hot or raining for days on site, which slows the process of a mural. With this mural we can work inside with a well-ventilated space with no interruptions. It’s an advantage for our art program and any mural we will do in the future. Hopefully we can apply a polytab mural in Socorro soon, so the people of Socorro can experience these murals of the future.
Looking back on the experience, what stands out the most?
I would say that having the opportunity to be of service with my art gave me the chance to experience some humility and humbled me. Hearing what these migrant families go through in their countries and why they migrate to the United States helped me realized how lucky I am to have grown up here in the United States. We have problems here in the U.S. of course but nothing compared to what these migrant families experience, or at least it’s not that bad here in El Paso. Most of these families migrate to the U.S. to escape violence and protect their children and families. It’s quite sad to be honest and it’s even sadder to know some U.S. Citizens make some these people seem like monsters when in fact they just want better for their families like any other parent would. The creating, collaborating, and connecting with other like-minded artists was also an incredible experience. I don’t think highly of my art but to hear other very talented artists give positive feedback on my art was a good feeling.
What did you gain through participating in this workshop? This can be both pertaining to the arts and also to you as a person.
I guess pretty much what I said earlier, I gained some humility and this experience humbled me. I would say I have a little more gratitude after this experience as well. As an artist I gained some knowledge on polytab and I also now have more confidence as an artist. Just knowing that my original artwork is worthy of being showcased publicly gave me more confidence as an artist. I also met and connected with new artists. This whole experience was a blessing for sure.
If someone was considering taking part in something like this, what would you say to convince them to go for it?
I would say don’t think twice about doing it, just do it! This experience will change the way you view murals and help you grow as an artist and possibly as a person overall. Try to be open minded and willing to learn new things and you just might learn something new. I’m all about growth in my life right now, so anything that’s going to help me grow, I am all for it.