Jesus de la Rosa, an artist from McAllen, TX, participates in the Artists Interview Artists Project. Below Jesus responds to another artist's five questions (Claire Bryan from Traralgon, Victoria, Australia). In order to participate, Jesus had to provide me with five questions for some other artist to answer. The assigning of questions to artists is completely random.
Cluster
acrylic, charcoal, velum, lithograph on wooden panel
48" x 48"
2006
1) How/when did you come to the realization that you are an artist?
It's been a twenty-year process from childhood doodles to the completion of a very rigorous graduate art program. Now, I'm into my second year of having an art practice outside of academia. I thought of myself as an artist when I was an undergraduate art student, not so much now. I think it depends how you defined an artist, but I know that I'm a painter and a maker of things.
2) What is your process leading up to starting on a work?
The process of my art making is intellectual and physical. I search for the painting; it begins with chaos and slowly becomes ordered. The symbolism in the paintings centers on the "jaguar rosette markings" these are the black circular shapes with a dot in the center. They represent the numeral one or an individual according Mesoamerican culture. In my paintings the rosettes travel across a landscape in search of utopia. My goal is to create artwork so powerful it challenges the intellect of the individual experiencing it not just visually, but by having a conversation with it.
3) Please describe how you have come to work you chosen medium. Do you dabble with other materials or disciplines?
I have worked and have been introduced to a variety of mediums, from charcoal, oil, digital, video and most recently acrylics. I have been slowly moving away from painting on canvas to wood panels because the surface of the wood gives me so many possibilities. The surface of the paintings is three dimensional and more sculptural now. I would have never done this before graduate school. The program was inter-disiplinary so I learned not restrict my art making and to keep exploring and evolving my art practice.
4) Can you give us some examples of artists whose work you find inspiring or just really love. What is it that draws you to this work?
Damien Hirst, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, Andy Goldsworthy, Sigmar Polk, Ray Smith, Dan Flavin, Ana Mendieta, Jim Hodges, Julio Galan, Guillermo Gomez-Pena, Jose Luis Cuevas, Vicente Rojo, Gabriel Orozco, Ann Hamilton, Devorah Sperber and Donald Judd. The the list goes on, but at the moment the work of Donald Judd has been the most influential. At Marfa I heard the sound of silence while visually absorbing Judd's phenomenal minimalist sculptures inside his Chinati Foundation. The space surrounding his work is just as important as his sculptures, as a result context became really important to me. An object becomes artwork when we give it that value and the space in which the object becomes artwork plays a paramount role in this value system. I also realized that as a painter, I have a lot of work ahead of me.
5) Do you have any hints for staying productive and focused in your art making
There are a lot of daily chores besides my nine to five job. I go to my studio space as time permits; usually all day Saturday or Sunday and I work on drawings at my apartment after work. Quiet, music, solitude, and good company all help me stay focused on my creative process. Entering juried shows also helps me stay productive by working toward a deadline. I also invest in myself, instead of buying a stereo for my car or a nice shirt, I'll buy a tool that I need at the studio. I go to as many art openings and art museums as possible, because these events and places inspire me to continue my art practice. Being artistically active in my community and with other artists also fuels my productivity.
Migration Continued
acrylic, vellum, lithograph on wood panel
19" x 29"
2005
Previous Interviews:
Juno Doran (questions by James W. Bailey)
Josh Feldman (questions by Joseph Barbaccia)
Lisa Stephenson (questions by Whitney Lynn)
Joseph Barbaccia (questions by Josh Feldman)
James W. Bailey (questions by Matt Hollis)
Matt Hollis (questions by Juno Doran)
Carol Es (questions by James Leonard)
Alexandra Silverthorne (questions by Ami Lahoff)
Christine Buckton Tillman (questions by Carol Es)
Douglas Witmer (questions by Alexandra Silverthorne)
Sky Pape (questions by Douglas Witmer)
Whitney Lynn (questions by Lisa Stephenson)
Heather Levy (questions by Joanne Greenbaum)
Heather Lowe (questions by Samantha Wolov)
Samantha Wolov (questions by Heather Levy)
Timothy McClellan (questions by Heather Lowe)
James Leonard (questions by Sky Pape)
Joanne Greenbaum (questions by Timothy McClellan)
Richard Kooyman (questions by Robert Walton)
Candy Keegan (questions by Warren Craghead)
Robert Walton (questions by Candy Keegan)
John M. Adams (questions by Richard Kooyman)
Prescott Moore Lassman (questions by Mary Addison Hackett)
Mary Addison Hackett (questions by Prescott Moore Lassman)
Andrew Wodzianski (questions by Nathan Manuel & D.Billy)
Nathan Manuel & D.Billy (questions by Andrew Wodzianski)
Michael Janis (questions by Scott Listfield)
Scott Listfield (questions by Michael Janis)
F. Lennox Campello (questions by Sean Hennessy)
Matt Andrade (questions by Adrian Parsons)
Sean Hennessy (questions by F. Lennox Campello)
George Wayne (questions by Michelle McAuliffe)
Eridanus Sellen (questions by Anabela Jevtovic)
Anabela Jevtovic (questions by Eridanus Sellen)
Marianela de la Hoz (questions by A.B. Miner)
Martin Henry (questions by Barbara Johnson-Gresser)
A.B. Miner (questions by George Wayne)
Barbara Johnson-Gresser (questions by Martin Henry)
Adrian Parsons (questions by Matt Andrade)
Heather Schmaedeke (questions by Patricia Hartnett)
Anthony Easton (questions by Melissa Kennedy)
Roz Leibowitz (questions by Anthony Easton)
Melissa Kennedy (questions by Tracy Lee)
Michelle McAuliffe (questions by Marianela de la Hoz)
Tim Folzenlogen (questions by Jason Hanasik)
Rob Willms (questions by Dott Schneider)
Marsha Stein (questions by Gregg Chadwick)
Jason Hanasik (questions by Tim Folzenlogen)
John LeKay (questions by Rosa Naparstek)
Brock Neilson (questions by Richard Vosseller)
Rosa Naparstek (questions by Howard Salmon)
Patricia Hartnett (questions by Verta Reyes)
William Andrews (questions by Bean Gilsdorf)
Howard Salmon (questions by John LeKay)
Corey Amaro (questions by Jason Dean and Matt Nash)
Michael Grayeagle (questions by Chris Ashley)
Marion Boddy-Evans (questions by Deborah Fisher)
Richard Vosseller (questions by Brock Neilson)
Deborah Fisher (questions by Corey Amaro)
Eileen Wold (questions by Michael Grayeagle)
Rob Myers (questions by William Andrews)
Gregg Chadwick (questions by Marsha Stein)
Chris Ashley (questions by Eileen Wold)
Verta Reyes (questions by Heather Schmaedeke)
Jason Dean & Matt Nash (questions by Rob Myers)
Mary Taitt (questions by Adriane Giberson)
Adriane Giberson (questions by Peter Ferko)
Peter Ferko (questions by Amethyst Begley)
Susan Schwake-Larochelle (questions by Jean Hutter)
Jean Hutter (questions by Mary Stebbins Taitt)
Amethyst Begley (questions by Kimberley Lindsley)
Kimberley Lindsley (questions by Susan Schwake-Larochelle)
Prem Singh (questions by Alison Rose)
Erin Antognoli (questions by Karen Winters)
Denis Peterson (questions by Andrea Pratt)
Jennifer Seymour (questions by Erin Antognoli)
Imants Ozers (questions by Denis Peterson)
Mark Malmgren (quesntions by Fiona Ross)
Remi Viger (questions by Brady Hegberg)
Fiona Ross (questions by Susan Constanse)
Susan Constanse (questions by Remi Viger)
Amie Oliver (questions by Christin Ciaccio Briggs)
Christin Ciaccio Briggs (questions by Dawn Whetzel)
Tara Krause (questions by Cathy Breslaw)
Dawn Whetzel (questions by Tara Krause)
Warren Craghead (questions by John M. Adams)
Dwayne Butcher (questions by Miguel Avila)
Zachary Stadel (questions by Walter Logeman)
Miguel Ángel Ávila (questions by Mark Creegan)
Walter Logeman (questions by Dwayne Butcher)
Mark Creegan (questions by Zachary Stadel)
Jennie Rosenbaum (questions by Jesus de la Rosa)
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