We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Armando Mesías. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Armando below.
Armando, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I was self taught in art for most of my life. I was then trained in design, painting and drawing. I always wondered if it was either skills or validation I was looking for when going to art school. It turns out it was mostly opportunity. The chance to surround myself by the energy and curiosity of art-making, and some of the confidence too. I don’t see any of these steps as obstacles or unnecessary— they all contributed to shaping my understanding of the world and added different layers to my work. I wouldn’t want to rush any of that. That might be the most essential skill: patience.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m an artist, focusing mostly in large scale abstract textile work and painting. My work draws inspiration from city landscapes and surfaces, and commonalities found among developed and developing urban contexts. I find inspiration in the tension between intention and accident, and how surfaces and materials evolve and decay without a seemingly distinct aim.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wasn’t so lucky as to be born in an artistic/creative context. My journey was very personal, intimate and filled with doubt. I was, however, very lucky to have been born to entrepreneur parents, and to go to a school with an entrepreneurial focus. I think this is really hard for most artists to reconcile once they start building their careers. They lack the motivation, time or interest in anything non-strictly-creative, and that makes it really hard for their careers to take-off. Although art-making itself doesn’t necessarily require structure or strategy, everything else related to it does. For someone trying to make a decent living out of doing what they love, this is of essence. It’s either a hobby, or it’s not.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
What keeps me going is focusing on the journey itself. Of course I have a vision about where I wanna be in 5-10 years time, but I try not to focus too much on that. Circumstances change constantly, same as one’s needs and dreams. May it be building a family or a global pandemic, you never really no what could stray you from course, and I find it very important to be able to adapt, and adjust expectations, and mostly, find love and excitement in the process.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://armandomesias.com
- Instagram: @armandomesias
