What part of Mexico do you call home and tell me what do you like most about it? I was born in Mexico City, where I have spent most of my life, so it would be my home. What I like most about her is the diversity that can be found in all aspects. I really like the history of this city, its stories, its characters, its legends and of course its food.
How long have you been making art and what lead you to start? In a professional way I have little more than a year. By “professional” I mean the moment when I decided to devote myself to art and nothing more than that. However I have been painting as a hobby for several years. My late mother, was the culprit of getting me started in painting. And she bought me my first supplies and we even painted together. Today, every triumph that I get, I dedicate to her, I know she is looking down on me from heaven.
Do you remember the first piece of art you created and how old were you? To be totally honest the first piece I do not remember but I remember that I started by painting landscapes. I was very inspired by Bob Ross. Back then I was around 11 or 12 years old.
Do you have any training or is it all inherent? At first I started experimenting, since I did not know anything about painting and you could see that in my work at the time. Then my mother invited me to participate in the classes she was attending. After rejecting the idea at first. I accepted the invitation and believe me I did not regret it. My Teacher thought me a lot about color, shadows, lighting and primary material.
How did you acquire your style? Well, I stopped painting for some years. One night while talking with my friends they started talking about Jean Michel Basquiat, at that time I did not know who he was. When they showed me his work I was impressed by its strength. I was attracted by the freedom of expression that it showed and I started to see and analyze more thoroughly his work. After researching and analyzing the works of other great masters such as Pablo Picasso, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, among others. I decide to take a pinch of each one and put all that in a blender. Then I served it as I saw it hot and ready.
What has the most influence on your work? The celebration of life has the maximum influence on my work. After my mother’s passing I learned that we should simply celebrate being here. Today we are here but tomorrow we don’t know if we will be here. It does not matter if it is not the best time, if there is no money, if it was a bad day, celebrate being here even if only with a handshake.
What other types of art interests you? I am interested in all kinds of art and crafts in general. I always look for something that I can absorb to get to the studio and be able to complement that sketch that is floating around in my mind.
Best advice you ever received in regards to you art? The best advice I received was “Wait your turn.” I am a very anxious person and if things don’t move fast enough for me, sometimes I abandon projects. However with painting I have decided to be more patient and I believe it has been a good choice.
What kinds of art hang on the walls of your home? Everyone thinks that my house is full of my paintings but it is not like that. I have impressionist paintings of landscapes, still life, a couple of marinas and a few of flowers. All done with oil, from 1920’s to 1950’s.
What advice would you give putative collectors? I would like invite collectors to pay more attention to emerging artists. In my country sometimes collectors do not bet so much on emerging art and look more for the artist with an established career. But I have known very good artists who stop creating because they do not get the resources that their career needs.
How do you define success? For me, success is not based on something material. For me success is to be well with oneself, enjoying life and our loved ones. Even if you do not have what you have dreamt you should not feel bad about it, you have to appreciate all the beauty that we have around us, maybe being here with a smile.
How would you like to be seen as an artist years from now? Well, I would like to reach an international level. I would like my art to be appreciated in many countries. I do not know how far I will go, but I would like to think years from now after I am gone, someone will know that I existed on this planet.
Do you have a place/person/thing that you visit for inspiration? I do not believe in inspiration so much, sometimes I believe more in moments. There are good moments to paint in which anything you paint looks great and there are other moments that simply things do not happen. When this happens, it’s at the beach where I discover or imagine new ideas. I also have family and friends with whom I talk and form new ideas.
Name three things in your studio that you can’t live without? Canvas, painting and music.
If you could have dinner with 3 artists living/dead who would be at your table? Picasso, Basquiat and Haring.
How would someone find you on social media (i.e. Facebook or Instagram)? Facebook and Instagram: Bxskyn
