Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Cortez.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I grew up in Southern California watching Saturday morning cartoons. I drew Scooby-Doo whenever I could, as well as, drawing things and people around me. My siblings and I have a knack for creating things so it was a no-brainer to take every art class I could in high school. I followed this trend into college, starting out in Mt. San Antonio Community College and then into Laguna College of Art and Design (which I’ll be graduating this winter). After working retail for a few years, I finally put my abilities to the test and began teaching art at Art Steps in the Orange County area. It is a very rewarding opportunity with plenty of joy and learning experiences. I hope to work both as a fine artist and animator.
Please tell us about your art.
My work revolves around inner emotions and self-reflection. I always found internal conversations interesting and wanted to learn more about other’s process of self-reflecting. Most of my multi-figure paintings are of the same subject interacting with themselves to portray literal self-reflection or conversation. I also like to put these subjects in a location where they are familiar with such as a bedroom or bathroom where they typically are alone. This intimate space seems appropriate because that tends to be where we look ourselves in the mirror or think out loud. My work continues to look into these spaces and its relation to the subject living in them. I find bedrooms that have the character more interesting because whoever is living in it leaves a part of themselves there. I’m always looking for new ways to show a person’s character and internal dialogue through my work, and hope it is relatable to others.
Do you have any advice for other artists? Any lessons you wished you learned earlier?
Listen to advice/critique. You do not need to take anything from it, but you are getting a direct message from your audience and what they think you’re art says, and they are just advising what you could do for better communication.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I had the privilege to show my work in the Avran Fine Art gallery in December, however, after that my art will be with me. Fortunately, I have a website andrewcortezart.com which will have work of mine, a post of upcoming events and a link to my Instagram for work in progress posts.
Contact Info:
- Website: andrewcortezart.com
- Email: alcortez2400@gmail.com
- Instagram: @an_drew_stuff
Image Credit:
Niaz
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