My BIG idea is identitiy, culture, and community.  

Three images have been selected by my peers from a huge selection of my lifes of artwork. I have to admit I didn't think I would be making a connection with work from different time periods of my life, brought together for a reflection of who I am as an artist. Visual culture has enfluence my life since the very begining. Art was a gift given to me from the time of consepetion and with my talent I chose to express my intrest to represent the person I have become. I beleive that we are all born for a purpose and from the very begining we have been chosen for a mission. I believe everything is connected and we all have something important to do. Ever since I was very young I had a fastatnation with cultures. I grew up in a very diverse community in Aurora, IL. I was also fortanant enough to travel to Mexico many times in my youth, even spending three full summer breaks. After high school I served our country and experience something only soldiers and understand, a family and brotherhood that no matter what was going on in your head you always had a brother to look out for. My brothers and sisters have no skin color, they have heart and I am honored to still have most of them still in my life. Going to the American Academy of Art was my biggest goal in my young life and I told myself that I wanted it more than anything I have ever wanted because no one has ever graduate high school or went to college in my family. I felt like my calling was to make a difference in our world, but as most adolesances my age I was naieve. My inspirations in art has to be from artwork that was always grabbing my attention, work by Drew Struzan and his famous movie posters. Most of his work is captures  my childhood and his approach is exemplifies his tecnique. Struzan handles composition with complete control giving the viewer direct conncetion with asethetics behind the art. Another artist who had a huge impact in my art was Deiago Revera and his collage of political and cultural movement of Mexico. His work gave me my first sence of indentity and push my art to the next level. I started to express myself with images I created based on what I was personally connected with.