The inspiration behind the art
As a broke Dominican graffiti artist in the projects of the Lower East Side of Manhattan, I thought that the only creative outlets Latino’s were allowed were messing up walls. Luckily for me, a SVA (School of Visual Arts) college internship opportunity in 2001 changed my life. The prestigious internship with a major animation company took me to sunny L.A. I soon fell in love with the city and found the internship a great experience. Working for this animation firm opened my eyes to the numerous job possibilities a cartoon artist could pursue. A year later I graduated from the School of Visual Arts and got a call from the animation company. My old internship boss offered me a job as a digital ink and paint artist, what a lucky break!
Like a "True Hollywood Story", I immediately quit my job, packed everything I owned and moved out to California! Within 2 days I was back in my old office, sitting in front of my old boss only to learn that the position never existed. “Welcome to L.A.” I muttered as I walked out of his office - stranded and jobless. Now what?
"I welcomed the chance to explain my heritage."My confidence was smashed and my desire to create disappeared. I spent hours looking at blank pieces of paper. Why exactly was I in L.A.? Two college degrees and working for $6 an hour in the local video store in L.A. did not add up. I needed a plan B quick! I fired up my engines and my dogged persistence paid off. Within three months I landed a job at Walt Disney Feature Animation. Finally the job I deserved - and my creative energy returned. Hard days work were followed by very long nights of designs that I posted to herediadesigns.com. I took a stab at everything, realism, pop art, and even pin up gals - but nothing I did really represented me well - the Dominican kid from NYC. I couldnt define my individuality as an artist. I felt like I was trying too hard.
I needed to find my niche. Art reflects life it seems as I tried to discover myself as a Latino artist living in L.A. The biggest obstacle was ignorance. Nobody here had heard of the Dominican Republic. Why did I always have to explain the differences between Dominicans, Puerto Ricans and Cubans? Did anyone understand that each country has it’s own island, richness and diversity? In L.A. I had to constantly explain my rich Dominican heritage so much, I became an extreme Dominican Patriot. I had Dominican bumper stickers, Merengue blasting out of my car, Dominican flags pinned up in my office at work, joined Dominican social clubs, started a Dominican community blog http://www.drnla.com so that I could build a Dominican online community.
"I am grateful for the ignorance of the Caribbean culture in L.A. because it gave birth to my multicultural art collection."My world did a 360, overnight it seemed as I welcomed the ignorance and the chance to explain my heritage. My Dominican pride infected my art and along came “Dominicano”, “Dominican Island”, and “Dios, Patria, Libertad” T-shirts. It appeared that in pursuit of my heritage I had inadvertently branded my website and burgeoning product company as a hip, urban, Latin design company. This was great, but I needed to create a platform that would educate people about the entire Caribbean and it's diverse music and history. They say that “ignorance is bliss”, and my career in L.A. has proved it. I am grateful for the ignorance of the Caribbean culture in L.A. because it gave birth to my multicultural art collection.
Published (7-21-2006) - Back to news updates