December 13, 2024 - Starting today through Jan. 30, 2025, I’ll be sharing new works at Hinovations Art Gallery in McAllen, TX as a part of the Trucha RGV De La Casa Artist Residency. Though dabbling in various design opportunities over recent years, it’s been a long time since I’ve shared a bulk of personal art. I’m extremely grateful of Trucha, Josue, Raquel, & Lupe for facilitating the opportunity.
New works use illustration, photography, graphic design, and gel transfer processes to explore layers of life in Texas and the RGV. Coming into the program, creative goals were to 1) play more/plan less and 2) get comfy with gel plate printing to 3) find more continuity between the digital and physical. It’s been a trying few years personally, occupationally, and socio-politically. There’s a lot of noise in my head– especially regarding duty, faith, Tejanismo, land use, migration, and labor. Via messy means, I landed on a handful of pieces that celebrate the good, sit with the bad, and reflect on the ugly. Below, you'll find images and blurbs about each piece. If nothing else, I hope the work inspires others to continually engage with their physical environment and constructively express their feelings. Loosen up, trust process, but take agency.
New works use illustration, photography, graphic design, and gel transfer processes to explore layers of life in Texas and the RGV. Coming into the program, creative goals were to 1) play more/plan less and 2) get comfy with gel plate printing to 3) find more continuity between the digital and physical. It’s been a trying few years personally, occupationally, and socio-politically. There’s a lot of noise in my head– especially regarding duty, faith, Tejanismo, land use, migration, and labor. Via messy means, I landed on a handful of pieces that celebrate the good, sit with the bad, and reflect on the ugly. Below, you'll find images and blurbs about each piece. If nothing else, I hope the work inspires others to continually engage with their physical environment and constructively express their feelings. Loosen up, trust process, but take agency.
Shout out to Cielo Zuniga and Jose Lozano for sharing their creative waves during the program. Shout out to my wife and and fam for the inspiration and support. Thanks to the [gender inclusive] road pavers, bricklayers, panaderos, resellers, taqueros, sign painters, afiladores, land protectors, paleteros, and caretakers before us. Much love to the homies on the road.
In addition to the visuals, enjoy this playlist of music tracks that helped to process the noise and feels.
A) Event flyer created by Trucha RGV using a chachalaca illustration by me (from Ch is for Chachalaca, mixed media, 10" x 8") and a photo of Cielo Zuniga's assembly work
B) We Must Protect This House! 12" x 9" gel plate print on mixed media paper. My love/hate with American football; a correlation between the rise of conservatism in South Texas and the popularity of the sport; our relationship with labor– specifically unpaid, underpaid, and/or Black; GMOs; war and land disputes as recreation; marching bands; nativism; tribalism; the fields; corn tortillas; indigenous land rights; mums; drum cadences.
C) Bird World 2: Squad. 12" x 9" gel plate print on mixed media paper, detail. Listening; watching; being still; the excitement of wonder and joy of discovery; habitat; the abundance and the delicacy of life.
D) On October 29, 2024, Doctor Said I Need a Backiotomoy. 12" x 9" gel plate print on chipboard, detail. Long story short, I fell through the ceiling– in the middle of processing and making all of this. Good times. It's very emergency.
E) El Camino de la Vida. 24" x 18" acrylic, aerosol, and latex paint on canvas. To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom; found this whip in a Walmart parking lot in Brownsville– un viejo; dream car; pure nostalgia; vessel of the Southwest; fresh rims; streets as a rite of passage; cars as mediums of experience; life on the highway; car culture; drive-thrus; never forget.
F) Send Me A Vision Besides Hard Living. 12" x 16" acrylic and latex paint on canvas. A hard couple of years; grandma's dailies; mom's strength; wife's undying determination; Ant, Mike, Frito, Tíz, Tino; Las Nubes by the La Feria HS Mighty Lion Band; Our Lady; Helvetica; painting letters as therapy; affordable gold leaf; prayers up (top-aligned); empty?; looking up.
G) Lo-fi Funk. 18" x 24" mixed media on panel. Blending of regional textures; flavor in the grime; majesty of gallos; all the boots; los relampagos; wally; caliche; rasquachismo; single cab silverados and budlights; conjunto classics;
H) Andamos on the Shoulders of Giants. 12" x 9" gel plate print on mixed media paper and detail. An ode to Brownsville sign painters and the history in downtown walls. Each letter has been sampled from a hand-painted or constructed sign. Puro pokemon collect 'em all.
I) Can't Stop Won't Stop. 12" x 9" gel plate print on mixed media paper. Shout out to all the hustlers, flippers, vendors, resellers, thrifters...
J) Bird World 3: Green Jay. 12" x 9" mixed media on mixed media paper. It's been a favorite bird of mine for a while; always a joy to come across one; paired with a collage of objects from local trips to the pulga and thrift stores.
K) Bird World 4: Altamira Oriole. 12" x 9" mixed media on mixed media paper. They scream off of the foliage; we had a crew of 8 hang out in the backyard for 2 weeks in 2021; I'm always looking for them; paired with samples of local hand-painted signage.
L) Prefiero Morir de Pie (pero con fresh kicks)... 10" x 8" digital photo collage. I'm downtown shopping for supplies and a theme just showed itself; I had to dig in; something playful and loose; salvation via consumerism; gotta look fly; arriba los zapateros.
M) Don't Believe the Hype. 12" x 9" gel plate print on mixed media paper. False idols; our desire for a savior; charlatans; bad leadership; read the headlines; blatant disregard for ethics; jam the controls full speed ahead scorch the earth; don't fall for the banana in the tailpipe; I think I'll send these doctor bills airmail special to...
N) Someone Needs a Nap. 12" x 9" gel plate print on mixed media paper. T is for tantrum, texture, terrible twos, tyranny, tint, terror, type treatments, toddler, thumbsucker, tribalism...
O) P is for Puro Parrot Time. 24" x 36" mixed media on canvas. Tambien puro process; los esquawks; infamous and synonymous with Brownsville; clockwork in the AM and PM; harsh, battering calls, quirky mannerisms; shout out to the highway department workers that designed, produced, and installed the parrot relief patterns on the overpasses.