site update/new milestones

Well, damn. Where do I start?

So I would just like to thank everyone that came out to see my exhibition with the muzeo LAST YEAR! Yes, its been that long, but thanks to everyone and anyone that came out to see that and also has been following my work from then. After that show came to pass, I was running with some momentum there after and I was offered a studio space by the homie William Camargo (@billythecamera). He so happened to have a space in Santa Ana and it was larger than what he needed so we split the space and I took over one half. Since then, I moved on in June and really made it my own in August, when I built a wall to display work on conceptualize work as well. The space has two other artists as well, Dino, Matt and Will are all my new studio roomies. Its honestly such a great experience to be in a space with these dudes because these foos have such great insight when you ask for it and even when you don’t. There is just so much to learn from them. Also working closely with William, it allows me to see how a brown artist navigates in the art world, sort of giving me an example of how I can maneuver myself through it as well. Plus he is always close by whenever I have an important question I need answered and again, offers me great insight on my work and how to navigate spaces. I feel very blessed to be in the position I am in.

What else…

OH so, Will introduced me to a lot of artists he knows and some curators, including Virginia Arce, who curates for the Irvine Fine Arts Center. She had just opened up a new show at the IFAC and was looking to fill the calendar with other artists and shows. Just so happens she wanted to come see what I was working on at the time. So, what was I working on? If you have been following my work, you would see that I created a new multimedia piece that I ended up naming, SwapMeet Still Life. These pieces were originally 11x14 frames with 8x10 mattes which where covered with Oilcloths sold from the swapmeet and used to border the photos presented. To me , it was a take on how the different forms of labor and services being offered at the swapmeet were a means of allocating resources and bringing food to the table. To me, the oilcloths represented the table, and the photos a form of labor or materials sold to feed a family. I go more into depth in an artist talk that I will be posting soon, so look out for that. But, Virginia came by and saw what I was working on, and asked me if I would be willing to show this in her gallery. Of course I said yes, but she wanted me to upscale the work. So I did, I got 40x50 chipboards, covered them with oilcloths, wrapped them with clear plastic and mounted the photos on top. I then used new polaroid instax photos with smaller frames to supplement the large photos and their portrayal, which then gave me everything I needed to present this in an exhibition. Photos of the exhibition can be seen on my site currently, I was featured with another artist, Beth Davila Waldman. Please go see her work as well, she is very talented and always on the move with shows all over the country. It feels really great to have my work presented with a really experienced artist, and our work compliments each others very well too, Virginia really popped off. But it also really gave me the confidence to know my work is ‘good’ enough to be presented with someone like her… not to say I don’t value my work but sometimes perspective is nice. Our Exhibition “ TERRAIN” will be up till April 19th of this month.

So much as been going on in the past year, I also applied for the MFA program at Cal State Fullerton this coming fall. I am hoping this will help me learn the bits and pieces I’m missing as I navigate the art world and give me the knowledge and skills I need to begin my teaching career. Yes, I want to teach. Pretty cool huh, I feel like that is what my end goals is, to teach photography, creating art and still making my own art for a living. This way I can still stay engaged with my community, making an impact with the youth or even young adults who want to create but still are weary on how to tap into those creative veins, just like how I currently am now. I want the stories of my community to be told, more black and brown folks in white dominated art spaces and I want our work to be valued just as much as an old fuck who decided to start watercolor painting in his 50s and lives in Laguna beach selling his shallow shit for fucking hundreds, thousands of dollars. (not me mad at some shit I made up but is probably actually true in some sense but yall get the gist) I hope to see my people rise in the arts, but it has to start with us, and I gotta do my part.

I am eager to share more, but right now I am at work, taking up office time to write this. Its close to my lunch time, so I will cut it here. Ill post again very very soon. I didn’t even get to share half of the new things in my life. TTYL much love. and follow my insta if you dont already @totesthewizard