FUTURESPECTIVE

Interview excerpts from Wonderland Magazine. 

You are part of the upcoming group show “Futurespective.” What can you already tell us about the show and your work in it?

I think it’s something very different than what people are used to see. I know a lot of the artists in the show and have worked with some in the past. Most of them are locals, all talented. I believe people will be arrested by the element of surprise behind every corner.

You incorporate found objects such as wood, newspapers and old skateboards. Can you elaborate on why you use objects and make them part of your art?

Yes. I do incorporate all sort of objects and re-claimed wood found on the streets. It is after all our environment. I try to get objects that are unusual, items you rarely see, work with them and assemble a balanced composition with them until something starts to take shape. I find that people relate to these items, which make an initial connection, but then, I change their perspective by creating something completely different and unexpected on top of each ensemble. It has become a true definition of “one ugly item by itself, it’s just ugly – one hundred ugly items, organized and systematically planned, become beautiful.”

You are from the Dominican Republic. How does your heritage inform your art?

In almost every way. First off: color. My island has a lot of color and folklore. I try using my folklore to focus on my heritage, and hide it within my work. I don’t like to scream my origin, but if someone happens to see a symbol or a Dominican item like the “Limping Devil,” guira or drums, then great! If not, no big deal. But the reality is that a lot of ideas I have, have been brewing ever since I was a child in that small island in the Caribbean. I just now posses the tools to do it. My nationality does not dictate my art, but it shapes it. ---- Keep reading this interview right here