When I returned to Los Angeles in ‘O6 i was inspired by all the amazing artists I met. I knew I had a thing for art since always and decided to put my visions and ideas into creative practice. I decided I would take part in this L.A. Renaissance so I tried it all… spray paint, acrylic, oil, crayons, markers, pencil, pen, linocut, stencils, pastels… pretty soon i turned napkins, refrigerators and green walls into my canvas. A lot of these pieces live in diaries, notebooks, and in places i do not remember anymore. i still find art in random places in my house and say to myself, “oh yah… i remember this…”
After I finished my piece of Ix’el I was convinced I could paint. I had to do away with any previous definitions, standards and expectations of who an artist was before I began to identify as an artist myself.
This is Ix’el. Our grandmother moon. In the story of creation, the gods were stuck and ran out of ideas and materials to create humans that were thoughful, skillful, and could worship the gods properly. After using wood, mud, and other things to create us, the gods went to Ix’el and this wise woman told them to make us from maiz. And so we are people of the corn, somos de maiz.
When i was unemployed for 4 months I almost sold this painting to pay for my rent. the lady never called me back. so it’s still in my hands. this is my grandmother.
I was also inspired by live art done by artists such as TIMOI, SHERM, MEAR1 and VYAL. I appreciate and admire the artists that can turn a blank 4′ x 4′ into a an outspoken masterpiece within 2 hours. I tried doing this a couple times… but its too much pressure and everyone is looking at you…DUH.
Since then I have also learned that the best creative anyone is the person that doesnt stop to think and logically plan a painting or a poem. They just do it. Just write. Just paint. Dont think. just go…
But after college i had much procrastinational residue left in me. And this is a piece I finished with 5 hours one afternoon because I had promised to show it at an event organized by Tribe of the Diasporas that same day. The homie, artist CUANDO, helped me lay the background and it turned out to be one of the grooviest pieces i made.
This is a piece inspired from a book i found on social movements in the U.S. This drawing was in black and white and in much needed of color. I call it, “by the Barrell of the gun”. The quote is from Audry Hudson and it reads, “Until the day of liberation, protection for my child can only be guaranteed by the barrel of the gun.”
So take that! When i saw this piece in the book, it was obviously a powerful story to recreate. Mother’s are known to defend their child and fight tooth and nail to protect her baby. In our current world affairs women do not have liberation from the hands of oppresion with nails of capitalism and patriarchy. So i dedicate this piece to womyn warriors.
This piece also reminds me of another powerful photograph… It was taken in Nicaragua in 1984 by Orlando Valenzuela. This is a mother of the revolution, of the Sandinistas. And it is one of the most beautiful photographs I have seen.
more to this page to come… check back later 
