Artist Statement

I am an Artist and Master Fine Arts recent graduate. During my Thesis, I was exploring all the possibilities of screen print and some etching to express a new point of view based on traditional topics. The theme of my Thesis was Jesus Christ. I update his image with my own interpretations for the contemporary world.

Many artists have painted their own composition, based on the history of Jesus Christ’s life. Rembrandt, Alexandre Bida, Leonardo da Vinci, Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol and many other artists, with different approaches and techniques, painted some part of Jesus’ life, from their own point of view. However, most of them kept Jesus with the same clothes and style of the traditional image of centuries past.

Some contemporary artists such as Jean Keaton, Simon Dewey, Danny Hahlbohm and Stephen Sawyer painted Jesus in a more modern way, you feel like that Jesus is present now. I am personally inspired by Stephen Sawyer and Andy Warhol. I admired their artwork and I try to create my own point of view with some kind of cartoon and youth feeling, to reach a younger and less traditional viewer.

I am trying to show how Jesus would look like right now in the modern world, to make people identify with him.

Jesus in today’s day, looking like one of us, has become more approachable and easier to imagine him in an everyday situation. I preserved his same historical face, the traditional representation of the image of “Sacred Heart of Jesus” as a main point of recognition in most of my work. I try to create my own style that could be compared with “The New Yorker” magazine.

My goal is the same as many artists, to show my interpretation and give to the world, my contribution in representing a very important historical figure. I am working independently of any religion association and the topic of my images is found in any book that tells Jesus Christ’s life. These include any forms of bible and many of the themes of the images, were already painted by masters in the past.

 I am contemporary, different, but always respectful, even when I try to be a little clever with some kind of sense of humor in my artwork. Sometimes I break some rules of proportion, scale and logic in my compositions to give a different kind of feeling, maybe less serious and friendlier. My drawings have Jesus as main character, even when he is not the center of the images. He is always in a situation according with the history of his life, but with a twist for the today’s time frame.  

My audience is artists, students, and people with some kind of religious background. Jesus is recognized by his face, sometimes with some cross or sacred heart somewhere on him as a part of the design. The background of the images is contemporary in contrast to the image that most people have in their mind. Jesus is wearing clothes like us, and he is more fashionable. He is around cars, buildings and people like us. Most of my screen prints have more color on Jesus image to accentuate his importance at the scene. My intention is not to offend, but to show my point of view with a sense of humor. It is my art, my creation, my contribution for the world.