Today we’d like to introduce you to Jovan Karlo Villalba.
Jovan Karlo, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I was born in Quito, Ecuador and raised in Miami, Florida. As a child, I was always surrounded by art and music as my parents were both forward thinking and creative in their respective fields. Constantly encouraged by them and influenced by the surrounding art helped me to grow creatively and explore my own passion for telling stories through drawing.
From early on I was excited to learn more about the possibilities that working in other mediums offered. By age 15, I was accepted into New World School of the Arts, a prestigious arts magnet high school in downtown Miami that allowed me to experiment with many forms of visual art. Three years later, I graduated and was honored to accept a full-tuition scholarship to attend the Cooper Union, School of Art in New York City. At Cooper, I excelled in painting and was presented with additional grants and invited to exhibit at The New York Design Center.
Soon after earning my BFA from Cooper, I struck gold and acquired my first art studio in New York City’s, Chelsea Art District – again surrounded with art and an abundance of creative energy. There, I began to cultivate my professional art practice and quickly began to pursue venues to show my work. Within two years, I completed my first body of work and was showing my paintings at nearby alternative art spaces and art galleries.
Since my early days in New York, I’ve participated in solo exhibitions in Miami, New York City and Laguna Beach. I’ve also had my work included in dozens of exhibitions including “Audacious: Contemporary Artists Speak Out” at the Denver Art Museum, CO, “Queens International 4 Biennial”, at the Queens Museum, NY and “New*Art” at Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach, FL where my work was awarded Best of Show by gallerist Fredric Snitzer. More recently, I was featured in a documentary titled “Imagination Unleashed: An Artisan’s Journey” that aired nationally on Ovation TV and was invited to speak about my work at the “Spring Logan Lecture Series” at the Denver Art Museum.
I presently live and work in my hometown, Miami, FL.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I paint.
I paint because I am interested in revealing how I experience the world around me. Because I am intrigued by how for me, the world needs to be painted as much as experienced. Because art makes the world around me a delight to experience – and I will do my part to contribute.
When I paint, I employ a process that combines mark-making with an additive and subtractive layering technique that for me, mimics environmental change. This process enables me to repeatedly cover and expose the underlying –reflective– stainless steel support until the desired balance of paint and steel is achieved. Balance within the work is determined by form and subject and plays a crucial role as it allows the painted image to coalesce with the reflected light and motion. The result are images that appear to be in constant flux, navigating between a depicted and a “real” environment. This effect and delicate balance represent how I see mankind’s relationship with nature.
My hope is that the unique experience of viewing my – reflective – paintings brings to light commentary on present-day social and environmental issues while revealing the ultimate grandeur and nobility of human resilience.
What do you know now that you wished you had learned earlier?
To never stop working.
Find time every day, even if it’s 10 minutes to work on your art. That constant, daily connection to your art holds the gates open, keeping you in focus and allowing you to realize what’s truly important to you.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I am presently working on a new series of large-scale, oil paintings on stainless steel. At this time, I have not decided on a venue or date for the unveiling. I have active social media accounts and a website (see below) where I announce updates and show images of works that are currently available for purchase.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jovanvillalba.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @jovankarloart
- Facebook: Facebook.com/jovanart
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