CIMI

My artwork comes from the energies of the streets, del barrio. I grew up in El Paso Texas, in El Segundo Barrio €œthe Second Ward€? not even a mile from El Puente that leads to Juarez, Mexico. El Puente -- and the river €“ that separate three different cultures in two different worlds. Down South the colorful Mexican culture that grabs you with its roots and to the rhythm of a guitar and accordion submerges you into the intense world of Pancho Villa, Tin-Tan and Juan Gabriel. Up north, the hard to understand land of the gringos and in the middle, El Segundo Barrio, my world. This barrio that has traditionally been the welcoming land for the poor immigrants running from Mexico, migrating north with nothing more than a bag full of hope and dreams of a better tomorrow. A space where Mexicans would breed and give birth to American children that would grow up only to be caught between two cultures, two languages, surviving poverty, gang wars and prisons.I too was born Mexican American but chose to be Chicano, because I did not identify with my Mexican primos or my gringo friends from Catholic school. Like many more of my Chicano friends I joined the frontlines of M.E.CH.A., M.A.Y.A. and the struggle for Chicano studies in our schools. We wanted to be understood and be accepted into that society that rejected us because of the way we dressed, the color of our skin and because of our €œpocho€? spanglish. It took me five years in the movement to realize that I could possibly create more change through my art; feathering my brush on walls my message could reach hundreds at a time, it was then that I became a chicano artist. Creating images around my barrio that would tell the tales of injustices done to our people, stories from our past that would educate our young chicanitos and make them proud of whom they are. I have always believed what Chico Mendes from Brazil and now Subcomandante Marcos have said: €œarm 500 indigenous and you will create a rebellion, Arm and educate 500 indigenous then you will have a revolution€?. It is not a revolution that I€™m trying to create through my artwork but rather social conscience of who we are and why we are who we are. Murals are a wonderful form to educate and inspire; murals fill a need for honest communication between all people on a non-verbal/non-violent level, a muralist can communicate ideas which often get neglected by our traditional education system, politicians, TV, or newspaper--ideas that need to be explored in the public€™s eye.QUE VIVA EL CHUCO!! I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4