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

Diego, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

In talking about my artistic roots, my grandfather Victor Monterrubio once said to me as a young boy, ‘El arte lo tienes en tu sangre’ (‘Art is in your blood’). My grandfather was an illustrator for Coca-Cola in Mexico for more than 40 years and I didn’t fully understand the phrase, but with time and experience I learned the truth about what he said. With his direction, I discovered an art portal to both peace and purpose. Art allows me to release and express my artistic creativity. It allows me to go into a sphere where only I have the key. My art comes from within. It comes from what I have seen and digested. It comes from ethereal feelings and surreal moments. It comes from love and pain as well as laughter, memories and tears. This journey started as a child and growing into adulthood with many learning experiences – some good and some heartbreaking. Being a first generation Chicano raised in Lindsay & Porterville, California, I was tossed into a life between borders and cultures. I had to learn several languages. Spanish to speak to my parents and grandparents. English to speak in the mostly white dominated school systems, and a new language…a mixture of both…born working alongside with my father in the fields and the Chicano culture. I embraced it all. I love to learn. This is the content of my palette. It became my visual narrative.
My career started like most dreamers…work, create, & love. Not necessarily in that order. I wanted that romanticized bohemian life…the Artists life. I was a nomad. I worked in the fields with my father. Spent summers in Tampico, Mexico learning and painting with my grandfather. Graduate school in Texas. An art residency at the Arts Students League in New York. Roamed around in Paris, Madrid, & Rome one summer. While making a longer stop in Fresno, Ca., I was honored with an art residency at the Fresno Art Museum that lasted 3 years. During this time, I was surrounded by not only artists but art educators. I was enlightened with life and art. The Fresno Art Museum allowed me to teach art classes to hundreds of students from the Fresno Unified School District. This is where my life changed course.
With the advice from my Fresno State sculpture professor, he advised me to pursue an MFA and become a professor. “Teach art Diego…I can see it already in you”.
After finishing up my BFA at Fresno State & MFA in Texas, I pursued a teaching. Over the last 12 years, I have taught multiple disciplines in art at California State University Fresno and currently as an Adjunct Professor at Bakersfield College. I have also taken a position the Kern High School District as an Art Teacher/Mentor at Central Valley High School. I am also a full-time active artist. I have exhibited in several parts of the USA. I was honored with an award from the Mexican Consulate for my career in the arts in 2017.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As for growing, I have started a new series based on the Chicano Experience and the Farmworker Life. In my current body of art work, titled La Fusion de Tres Culturas (oil on large scale canvas) is a amalgamation of real-life “happenings” where I’m creating a visual narrative of the co-existing roots of the Chicano Experience and the Farmworker Life simply because that is me. The artworks are fragments of how the Latino, Chicano, Mexican and the Mexican-American continue to co-exist and strive proudly. I act as the facilitator to my paint and palette. I re-tell the stories in my head and apply them to the canvas. My illustrations encourage my viewer to reflect on the past, the present and conserving these stories not taught in schools. I want my audience to be receptive and to be inquisitive. I ask people to be reflective through dialogue. This approach involves a great deal of scaffolding and exposes the viewer into the life of those of us living in the San Joaquin Valley of California.

Overall, my life and artistic philosophy is rooted in a San Joaquin Valley childhood and is what I live and teach almost every day. One must have flexibility in any process; one must have integrity in their work, and most importantly, one must fall in love with what they do.

Focus & Mission:
With these visual narrative components of my art works, I want to impact my students ,audience and community beyond the purely aesthetic questions. I want to introduce a critical analysis of their own and learn to apply this analysis to assess their work. My students are asked to justify their creative concepts and moves with regard to materials and technique and to relate these decisions to a historical and theoretical context. Most importantly they learn to formulate conceptual objectives for their ethnic backgrounds which I’m doing in “La Fusion de Tres Culturas.” While the paintings provide a general starting point, the goal is for my audience to take their initial concepts and create a emotional realization and connection, which involves a great deal of fluctuation throughout my process. My objective here is to initiate the amalgamation of the body of work that is both a cultural expression and a means for the development of their ideas and interests. These are the first steps towards commitment, integrity and the expansion of the love for their art, which I believe is the chemistry of creating art. Art is to be made and loved.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect might be creative prerogative. Creating art is an ever evolving activity because art in culture and society is constantly reinterpreted and determined. Most artists start off with a solid foundation in the principles of art making preparing themselves for creative fields that are in constant flux. Art and culture have undoubtedly been influenced by the exponential growth of technology and it is our creative prerogative as modern day artists to ensure these new technologies are addressed in our studios: Constant Flux. We must create an environment where experimentation with traditional fine art practices and new media are both encouraged and rigorously examined. I like be challenged to develop a strong sense of self, to become effective problem solver, and to explore my work with a historical and cultural lens. The components of flexibility, integrity, and passion is key in my progression.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media is fickle but necessary. All artists need exposure. Sadly, building an audience takes time and most importantly takes you away from your studio space. Advice: Use social media as your platform. It’s your gallery space. You control it. You upload as you please. You have to manage it. Editing is the key.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.diegomonterrubio.weebly.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diego_monterrubio
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diego.g.monterrubio
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MonterrubioArte

Image Credits
Image Credits: Diego Monterrubio