>> I DUBBED IT MODERN HIEROGLYPHICS WHERE I INCORPORATE MODERN TECHNIQUES.

MOST SPECIFICALLY, TECHNIQUES AND IMAGERY BORROWED FROM GRAFFITI.

I HAVE A KIND OF PHILOSOPHY AND GRAFFITI ARE ONE IN THE SAME.

LEAVING MESSAGES ON THE WALL.

HIEROGLYPHICS ARE IN MUSEUMS AND GRAFFITI, FOR SOME FOLKS, KIND OF LOOK DOWN ON IT.

BUT YOU KNOW, I JUST WOULD CHALLENGE THEM THAT WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

IT IS PEOPLE CREATING ART.

TELLING A MESSAGE.

ASKING FOLKS IN THE COMMUNITY TO REMEMBER SOMETHING.

FOR ME, IT IS KIND OF DRAWING THE COMPARISON AND PARALLEL AND INTERPRETING THAT IN MY OWN WAY.

BORROWING FROM ANCIENT HIEROGLYPHICS AND BRINGING IT TO MODERN TIMES.

I LOVE TO USE BRIGHT COLORS.

THICK BOLD LINES.

THE 90s, I LOVE CARTOONS AND COMIC BOOKS AND STUFF LIKE THAT.

SO I THINK THAT IS KIND OF AN INFLUENCE DEFINITELY.

A BIG MOTIF IN MY WORK ARE THESE CHARACTERS I CALL GOD MASKS.

THEY ARE KIND OF INSPIRED BY A MASK YOU MIGHT SEE LIKE A SHAMAN OR SOMEBODY WEARING LIKE A CEREMONY.

THAT IS SOMETHING TRUE ACROSS SO MANY CULTURES THROUGH MOST OF RECORDED HUMAN HISTORY.

YOU KNOW, AS SOMEBODY WHO STRUGGLED WITH MENTAL HEALTH STRUGGLES, A LOT OF US DO IN LIFE.

KIND OF TO ME IT IS THESE MASKS, KIND OF CHANNELING THAT POWER FROM WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOR YOURSELF.

WHETHER IT IS FROM YOUR HERITAGE OR YOUR FAMILY.

OR FROM THE NATURE THAT SURROUNDS US.

FOR ME IT IS CHANNELING THAT ENERGY AND PUT MYSELF OUT THERE.

SO, AND THEN, AGAIN, BEING PUERTO RICAN, THERE IS A TRADITION OF MASK MAKING SPECIFICALLY CALLED VEJIGANTES WHICH IS INFLUENCED BY SPANISH AND AFRICAN ROOTS.

DIFFERENT ELEMENTS IN ALL OF THOSE CULTURES CULMINATED IN PUERTO RICO.

MY PAINTINGS ARE INSPIRED BY THAT AND MORE RECENTLY I HAVE BEEN DABBLING IN MORE DIMENSIONAL MASK MAKING.

THIS IS A PRINT I MADE A FEW YEARS BACK WHEN I WAS VENDING AT FESTIVAL LATINO DOWNTOWN.

IT IS IN MY SIGNATURE STYLE YOU KNOW.

IT IS A GOD MASK INSPIRED BY ALL THE THINGS.

BUT YES.

THE SPECIAL THING ABOUT THIS IS THAT IF YOU SCAN IT AND IT AUGMENTED REALITY APP CALLED ART REVIVE IT COMES TO LIFE.

IT IS SOMETHING I HAVE EXPERIMENTED WITH THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS.

THIS IS THE FIRST ITERATION OF THAT.

NOW I HAVE A TOUR AROUND TOWN WHERE PEOPLE CAN SCAN SOME OF MY MURALS AND THERE'S LIKE A WHOLE IMMERSIVE GAME THAT INVOLVES AUGMENTED REALITY IN MY WORK.

INNATELY EVERY BODY IS DRAWN TO ART AND CREATION SO TO BE A PERSON WHO GETS TO THAT EXPERIENCE FOR PEOPLE I THINK IS LIKE A MAGICAL THING.

JUST THE FACT I GET TO MAKE THINGS AND SHARE IT WITH PEOPLE IS JUST VERY BASIC BUT IT IS A REALLY SPECIAL THING FOR ME.