We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Diana Haro. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Diana below.

Hi Diana, thanks for joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I honestly wish I would have put myself out there at an earlier stage in my life. I always knew that art was one of my biggest passions but I always carried self-doubt. I feel that as an artist we do criticize ourselves a little too harshly with details that we forget to look at the bigger picture. We seek praise but forget that it’s more about the creative process and just feeling accomplished with that. I’ve always been the type of person to try different mediums and creative outlets and to follow whatever feels right at the time. I did at some point stop making art for an audience because I was in a situation where my art was not appreciated and put to the side, so it made me step back (I’m talking years). I finally came into the realization that other people or opinions shouldn’t be taken personally, just create.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Diana Haro, I am a self-taught artist from Leimert Park. I have been making art all my life and have been pushing myself more to establish myself as an artist. I am a painter, photographer, linocut artist and author. I can say that I am very proud of my personal growth and by pushing my creative boundaries, it has been a journey and I’m still in that journey of self discovery. I love that I have the ability to express my visions and emotions through art, rather it be painting, photography or making political art that resonates with humanity. I am also very proud of my children’s book named “Xochitl’s Journey Home”, it is about a monarch butterfly who is in her personal journey to find her tribe in Michoacan, Mexico. This book means a lot to me because it was a book I wrote for my father who has passed and monarch butterflies are such a huge part of my culture when it comes down to connecting with my ancestors. I love to incorporate my culture, ancestral veneration and environmentalism in my work. I hope we can make a change and save the monarch butterflies as they are now endangered species.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I believe that we should have more community based art workshops/art spaces. It’s so hard to find an art space/organization that has not been deeply impacted by gentrification and developers. I know of so many art non-profit organizations that were a safe space for artists in the community and have now been displaced. These were organizations that would give people in my community a place to express themselves and to connect with other like minded artists. I really hope that we can turn all of that around, we really need these safe spaces especially now with the political status of this country.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I honestly feel that my mission in this creative journey is just to create and share it with whoever is open to it and/or resonates with it. I hope I can inspire other artists that have self-doubt to just go out there and make it happen. It doesn’t matter if you have to use cardboard, paint a furniture piece that’s out in the curb on the street or find slabs of wood- just do it. Work with what you got and you will see how far you can go. Take the leap.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: artrootsla
• Other: linktree: Xochitlsjourneyhome

Image Credits

Diana Haro