Self-Portrait

Oil on canvas

30 x 40 in.

April 28, 2015

My first year at Tufts is coming to a close, and my final in-class painting has been finished! The following work is titled "Self-Portrait", and it is part of my final painting assignment, which was to create a self-portrait using source material. I worked on this piece for four three-hour sessions plus a final seven-hour session.

As far as the content of the piece goes, I developed the idea for this piece with two goals in mind. The first was to play with the idea of safe spaces as self-portrait, which I did by placing my figure in what is now my room at Tufts. The temperature of the piece is warm, as is the actual scene, and this is best reflected through the palette and my choice of colors- plenty of naples yellow and cadmium red for the body, and a glaze of naples with cerulean on the throw pillow beside my hand. The warm colors and glazes, combined with the intricate and ornate pattern behind the figure, parallel the actual experience of being in this safe space, an intimate setting in which wild thoughts and daydreams, as jumbled as the tapestry behind the figure, can surface. Thus, in reality, I am as mentally exposed as I am physically exposed in the painting.

Next, I was eager to work with figurative painting. I was inspired by Chantal Joffe's piece, "Jessica", which I first saw in the contemporary wing of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The painting is large, the limbs elongated, and the planes of the figure defined through contrast between the colors of Joffe's palette. The paint, furthermore, drips down the painting, distorting the figure's body. This idea came in combination with Jenny Saville's work on the human body, which depicts human bodies as they are, flaunting their perceived flaws, such as fat, scars, burns, and even blindness, in such a way to render them powerful and beautiful through the blotches and patches of luscious, thick paint. These two influences, then, come together in my piece- I rendered my body to match reality, while working on using Joffe's contrast, elongated legs, and subtle variety of colors, such as the purple and green that can be seen on the underside of the leg.

The painting above is Chantal Joffe's "Jessica". Below are some of Jenny Saville's works. I think her work is phenomenal, and the real bodies she paints are empowering and true, showing that something so repulsive to society as botched skin, droopy breasts and meaty, bulging fat can become so interesting and breathtaking both in an artistic context, and, if the viewer is willing, outside of such a context.

Mama

Oil on Canvas

April 7, 2015

With Mother's Day coming up, I thought that it was time to pay a tribute to my mother, who is my best friend and one of the sweetest, kindest, most receptive, and most supportive people in my life. For this painting, I went and got Winsor and Newton's gold oil paint to draw what resembles a halo of gold around the portrait. Feliz Dia de las Madres, Mama! 

Art Exhibit at the Tufts University Art Gallery

Finally, the full exhibition is up!

My paintings, Birthday Boy, Self-Portrait I and Self-Portrait II/Autorretrato are now being displayed at the Slater Concourse in the Tufts University Art Gallery in a temporary exhibit. The exhibit is centered around the theme of portraits, and a limited selection of works by Tufts students were chosen for the collection. If you're at Tufts, free to stop by and check them out!

Self-Portrait/Autorretrato

Oil on Canvas

March 12, 2015

The following is my second painted self-portrait. My first is currently being exhibited at Tufts' Aidekman Arts Center, in the Slater Concourse Gallery. This one, in terms of lighting and mood, is more dramatic, and the strongly-pigmented red on the skin is intentionally used and inspired by Jenny Saville's paintings of mutilated, maimed bodies. In this painting, I sought to recreate this effect to a limited extent. Nevertheless, the blotches and patches of paint that are characteristic of her work are not present in this piece, but I am up for the challenge of employing her technique in future works. 

You Need Me, I Don't Need You (Ed Sheeran Cover)

A second cover with Davy Baby! We recorded this during winter break, or winter of 2014. 

She Will Be Loved (Maroon 5 Cover)

Maroon 5 is one of my favorite bands of all time (I'm currently obsessed with their new song, "Sugar"). This song is one of their classics as well as one of the first songs that my mom introduced me to, so over the summer of 2014, me and my friend David Hubp (Davy Baby!) decided to give it a shot! Here are the results:

Gravity (Sara Bareilles Cover)

While on the train from London to Paris in June of 2014, I could not stop listening to Sara Bareilles' "Gravity". Its meaning resonated deeply with me, even more so after having come back to Mexico from my trip to Europe. I recorded this cover at the end of the summer, as it encompassed back then and to this day, through music and lyrics, much of what I wish I could put into words.

Las Pintoras

Oil on Canvas
February 20, 2015

In "Las Pintoras", as with "Birthday Boy", I have attempted to capture a warm, sentimental moment that I witnessed in my life.

The sweet women on the painting are two of the women that I had the opportunity to meet in 2013 while volunteering at the SNDIF, or the Sistema Nacional para el Desarrollo Integral de la Familia, a public institution for social assistance located in Mexico. During the time that I was there with my closest friend, Monse, we engaged in conversation with the women, who were painting with acrylic on linen. They worked gently and carefully on their art as they were gentle with us, inquiring about our families and opening up to us about theirs. After a little while, we all passed the frijoles and tortillas that were given to us around the table and ate the warm, nourishing food.

The elderly never fail to evoke an emotional reaction from me. Perhaps it is the way they take their lives slowly and calmly, despite the hardships; the subjects, particularly their concern about their families, that they embrace through their soft words; or maybe, the way they are often seen by much of society- as useless, incapable, homely beings, that bring me to want to make a difference for them, whether by helping them physically, listening to them, or even conveying to them that, despite their age and decaying capacities, they still matter just as much as anyone. This painting thus magnifies their everyday moment of peace, serenity, and slow diligence, portraying them in the full humanity that the society often strips from them and from similar elderly men and women.

The Pity Scene (Lights Cover)

Again, an old cover. Some more practice could have gone into the guitar-playing, but overall, this piece was a fun challenge. If you get the chance, check out the actual acoustic performance by Lights on YouTube- despite the doubts that some people have about her vocal talents, based on her studio albums, her acoustic performances reveal that she is actually quite talented.

Without A Word (Birdy Cover)

The following video was taken at Repentino's Open Mic, on September 26, 2013. Although it is not the most recent of the music pieces that I have covered, performing on stage was a thrilling experience, especially with my parents and two of my best friends, Monse Ibañez and David Hubp present. Later in the night, I also covered Therapy by All Time Low, and Rolling in the Deep, by Adele, with David.

As for the song choice- Birdy's original song is a beautiful, heart-wrenching piece, and I personally do not think anyone can do it justice. Still, my love for the song itself, Birdy's voice, and the way she integrates all of it with her phenomenal and breathtaking piano playing led me to urgently desire to play the song myself and show it to the world. 

Birthday Boy

Oil on Canvas
February 7, 2015

The medium for the "Birthday Boy" was oil on canvas. Before beginning to paint, I thought for quite a while about what I wanted to paint. I knew that I wanted to take on painting someone rather than something, and to experiment with creating skin tones with paint. However, I did not want to paint just anyone, but rather, someone meaningful to me. 

In the end, I decided to paint someone whose birthday was quickly approaching, and who had been on my mind lately. Rather coincidentally, the painting was actually based off of a photograph taken by me on the subject's past birthday. Although there are some aspects of the painting that I would like to go back and correct at some point, such as the shadow under the boy's chin and the disproportionally small hand, I am satisfied with the painting. All in all, I hope that I managed to encompass, through color and content, the tender and nostalgic moment in time that it is meant to capture.