BACKGROUND
Growing up as the son of immigrants, I experienced immense poverty. I felt like I was living in a society where I didn’t matter. Graffiti gave me an overwhelming feeling of purpose as well as a profound sense of being connected to my surroundings. I was fascinated by how someone could become an overnight celebrity, while at the same time no one really knowing who they are. The whole objective of graffiti is more. It’s about having a name and wanting to see it everywhere.
PROCESS
My technical process focuses on the augmentation of form, compartmentalized patterning, compositional balance, and integration of media. Utilizing thousands of reference photos that I have compiled over the years, I map out compositions that are then broken down into sections of painting, drawing, and collage. I then repetitiously arrange each medium in a sequence obscuring the elements that are painted and the ones are adhered. This allows the materials to transform the work into something unanticipated or initially unimaginable. The practices of drawing, painting, and printmaking fundamentally influence how I deconstruct and re-render an orchestrated or observational reference photo to create a stylized, yet realistic, atmosphere within the context of a painting.