Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Marin.
Hi Daniel, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m the son of Cuban parents who fled to the US with their parents to start a new life for themselves. Growing up in Miami where I was born, I was constantly reminded of how quickly life can change, how some days you’re up, others you’re down, and that resilience is key to getting through life moments.
This experience has been a driver for me – to get my degree, to get my Master’s, to keep progressing both professionally and personally, and to create opportunities for myself whenever possible. While I’ve practiced art for as long as I could hold a pencil or brush, I focused on carving out a career as an executive for more than 20 years, and the success I found along that path is what allowed me to create my art practice which is what I’m most passionate about today.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’m a believer that a smooth road yields no real experience or growth, so I feel fortunate to say that my path in life has been anything but a straight line. I’m a self-taught artist which in and of itself has brought constant challenges – no formal training or guidance, which means having to learn through trial and error, and the lack of an artist tribe to challenge you, teach, or learn from you, and inspire you, and making connections in the art community that open up doors. I’ve learned a lot since embarking on my art practice more than 12 years ago, but mostly because of the missteps that came up along the way simply because I didn’t know any better.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a contemporary artist, and my body of work from the past decade has focused on mostly mixed media pieces blending pop art aesthetics with text and physical elements together that are meant to create a composition viewers can connect with, but without offering an explanation.
A key element in my work is sourcing figures and elements from antique comic books from as far back as the 1940s and combining them with more modern, urban components to bring about a new narrative. The underlying objective of my work is to create these new narratives using texture and figurative and abstract elements that an observer can use to piece together their own interpretation of what the piece in front of them is presenting.
I’m aiming to spark that natural curiosity in you that forces the questions, “What does this mean?” or “What are they trying to say?,” offering up a composition with just enough information for you to draw a conclusion that is personal, shifting the questions toward “What does this mean to me?” or “What are they saying to me?” I’d like to think that – and the tedious process of painting, stenciling, collaging/decollating, plastering, and wood cutting every piece so it’s unique – sets me apart.
As far as what I’m most proud of, it’s the fact that I’ve kept it up all these years with nothing but the support of my family – especially my wife – keeping fuel in my tank, which has allowed me to make connections with patrons, artists, and art lovers from across the USA and abroad, and landed my work in many different private collections and even the official city art collection of Seattle.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
Funny enough, I’m not religious at all, but I believe that luck – good or bad – is the universal force that creates and ends paths in life. I met my wife because of a last-minute decision to go on a road trip; I’ve made some amazing connections with other artists simply because our booths were placed next to each other at an art fair.
I got my first art commission just after being fired from a day job with no prospects or path forward, so the free time gave me the chance to focus on tailor-making an art piece for someone for the first time. Luck seems to have been that every pivotal moment, albeit growth, happiness, or pain.
Pricing:
- My work ranges anywhere from $500 to $5,000 depending on size, complexity, materials, etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://deptm.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/departmentm/
Image Credits
Jessica de Vreeze
