Painting in Series
Part 2
In 1997 I was in a situation that could have ended extremely
devastating, I was being charged for a crime I did not do. I spent one year
fighting the case and eventually the case was dropped. During this year I began to have a deeper
connection with my Christian faith. I had read the bible many times before but
now I was reading deeper theological writings that shifted my paradigm to a
more spiritual elevated state. My
drawings were different from the biblical drawings I did in 1989 while in
Prison, these were abstract more symbolic.
I came across an art magazine that had an article about
Arshile Gorky, this artist reflected many times on his traumatic childhood and
his loss of his mother. I connected with
his story and as I researched more, other artists were mentioned. Artist like
Roberto Matta, Kandinsky and the NY Abstract group of the 1940’s.
Upon my release from Jail, I began to explore
Spiritual abstractions, I did these on large canvases. These abstractions began
with the decomposing of Aztec ideas like Quetzacoatl and fusing it with
biological matter, as to differ from what is a stone sculpture to that of its
spiritual meaning. In 2005 I was
represented by a gallery and that allowed me to dive deep into these spiritual
ideas, but by 2007 my family experienced life changing situations. Illness hit
our home but not just physical illness a strange unknown concept to all of us,
Mental illness.
In 2011 after experiencing years of family struggle
with the illness, I was given the opportunity to assist a pastor, and in return
I would be given free studio space in Echo Park. It was at this studio that I
came to the idea that life must have a balance between that which is physical,
the things we eat affect our bodies. That which is Spiritual, our personal
spiritual beliefs, and our Cultural activities or family heritage, which I call
the Soul. The idea to paint this was
what in the begging I called “the sum of the whole”.
My first attempts to paint this was a series I called “Fusion
series” that lead to what I called “Urban Chicano Series” then when I moved to
Antelope Valley in 2017, I continued to push the idea of Body, Soul and Spirit
into my current work. Which I call “Triunity series”
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