Rafael Art

Ever since I was a child in Mexico City, I felt the need to create with my hands. I would play and sculpt with anything in my reach. I didn't possess any fancy toys, so my favorite material was modeling clay. I would make my own action figures and when I was finished playing. I would knead the clay in to a ball to start over again the next day. This hand mind exercise was the actual beginning of my career.
I work by instinct, through an internal dialogue that I cant ignore. The ideas dictate the medium, thereby fostering a strong relationship between the images and materials. I draw inspiration from my heritage, personal observations and childhood memories. I alter the same ideas by taking different approaches with various materials, such as with the guitar/woman series. I prefer to communicate visually, in a poetic manner, making similarities in the creation of life, music, and art. I pay tribute to women who create life; through conception, they create music and the masterpiece of a new person. Often, my musical pieces become exaggerated seedpods, also representing the evolution of life.
I cant let go of my work until I am satisfied, until I achieve the ideal state of expression. Only then am I able to see that my visual talk can speak clearly to those who view it.
"Continuum"
Mixed media wall sculpture, copper, ironwood, clay, and bird skull
Rafael Navarro
www.navarroartes.com
"Childhood"
mixed media on wood
Rafael Navarro