We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Adam Miguel Estevez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Adam Miguel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?
The kindest thing anyone has ever done for me was from Jesus. That’s right, Jesus. In the middle of high school, I received unusual new news: I was diagnosed with bone cancer. Ewing’s Sarcoma carried a deadly prognosis. I was slated to undergo back surgery along with a year of chemotherapy if I lasted. I received a ton of support from friends and family around me in the form of cards, flowers, phone calls, and beautiful, loving words. However, it was Jesus Gondarias’ gift that really hit me. Jesus was not a close friend but someone who was always genial and welcoming when I would see him. One day, Jesus approached me with a baseball and told me it was his gift to me. I wasn’t sure what to think of a used baseball as a gift for someone going through cancer but I thanked him and went on my way. Later, I learned that the delivered baseball was from Jesus’ first homerun in his life. Not having much to give me materially, Jesus found what mattered him most and gave it to me. What a gift and lesson in human kindness.
Adam Miguel, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a contemporary visual artist working primarily with acrylic and on large aluminum sheets. I have exhibited my work in various parts of the country including New York, Florida, and the Carolinas. My father is from Cuba and while my work is not political in nature, the aesthetic of old Cuban buildings in Havana, in particular, have influenced my work. Some of my contemporary influences include works from Mark Bradford, Gerhard Richter, and Anselm Kiefer.
Having a psychoanalytic background has allowed me to approach painting from an entirely unique background as an artist. I have the benefit of seeing the canvas through a lens of process moreso than content; a process that allows the direction of the painting to move, shift, fade, and emerge in ways that are not so obvious. With patients, sometimes there is more said than words and the words themselves may veil more meaningful content than surface content. Similarly, my paintings emerge after a process of layering, deconstructing, fragmenting, and rebuilding. In this way, my eyes stay focused on this process rather than actual paint on a surface.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
The creative process is, in many ways, the most challenging of journeys. With most professional careers, success is based on hard work with objective measures of success. With the creative process, that objective standard is a blank sheet of paper with no instruction or guidelines. You are only left with yourself to create something that in your mind what feels right. In this sense, it takes hard work (and courage) to stand on that high dive and leap into the vastness of that blankness with only yourself and the faith that a creation will emerge.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Growing up, I excelled at drawing and painting realistic, representational work. I furthered my development in this direction by studying Renaissance Art in Florence and portraiture at the Art Students League in New York. Despite gaining a wealth of knowledge about technical aspects of painting, I have largely abandoned traditional methods of working as an artist. I have pivoted to more abstract, non-representational work foregoing traditional technique. I use squeegees and scrapers on large smooth, spreadable surfaces like aluminum. It is easier to lean on old skills but abstract work is more emotionally congruent with what I want to convey artistically. 
Contact Info:
- Website: www.adamestevez.com
- Instagram: adammiguelestevez
- Facebook: adam miguel estevez
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/2fqgreW3Ng0