Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Marcos Hernandez-Chavez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

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 am a Mexico born and Houston based painter and textile artist, my work has been presented at the Galveston Arts Center, the Fort Worth Community Arts Center, the Station Museum of Contemporary Art in Houston as well as spaces in Colorado, California, and New York. Over the last seven years in which I returned to Houston from Denton, TX, I have been involved in a practice with artwork that came as a result of constant experimentation, a reliance on construction materials, and an expressionist compositional origin. With themes of labor, craft authorship, environmental and indigenous issues, I have continued to expand upon this practice, finding new materials to create work and reaching back to the original art forms that formed my studies. I have been published in the Houston Chronicle and New American Paintings, among other publications, and currently represented by Hooks Epstein Gallery in Houston, Texas.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I think artists come into this shore not knowing what turbulent waters brought them here, and when they arrive they’re the ones that reach down into the cave where everyone else is shackled and bound. They swing their pickaxe at the chains, and sometimes the impact just showers sparks that feed the fire, but sometimes they break them free. The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is aiming at the link and taking a shot every day.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

There is an incredible collection of artists in Houston who get overlooked because Houston is not New York, and until those that buy art start treating those artists with the respect they are due based on what their cultural output has done in speaking about this city I fear those artists and their stories will not be able to thrive.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/marcos.el.indio

Image Credits
Photos 1 & 2 by Lawrence Elizabeth Knox (@lawrenceeliz) courtesy of Weingarten Art Group (@weingartenartgroup) and Houston Endowment (@HoustonEndowment) Photo 3 by Nelson Vanegas (@nelsonvanegas) courtesy of of ALMAAHH TX (@almaahhtx) Photos 4 & 5 by Kevin Lopez (@kevinlopezart) courtesy of BOX 13 (@box13artspace)