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

Rebeca, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

Deep inside I always knew I was an artist, but early on in my life I tried a few things before completely committing to painting and drawing. I studied Law and passed the bar examination in my home country, Chile, while consistently studying painting and spending most nights at Taller 99, a print-studio, doing printmaking as I developed my visual work. After a couple of years, I abandoned law and completely dedicated myself to making art.
Later I moved to Chicago where I got my MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
At the time, I worked intensely spending endless hours at the studio, almost every day of the week.
I remember I felt an urgency to learn and experiment partly because, growing in Chile before the internet, there was so much to catch up to, and so much to experiment with. At that time, I was also fully committed to developing my visual language.
I was obsessed with experimenting, with process, and with abstraction. I recall that, during this time, it also helped me develop my work the interactions I had with other artists who were also as immersed as I was with these ideas.

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.

I am a visual artist and an educator. I was born and raised in Santiago, Chile, but currently I live and work in Los Angeles.

I became an attorney while still living in Chile, a career I promptly abandoned to become an artist. I received my MFA at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Upon receiving my MFA, I became an instructor at SAIC, both in the Painting & Drawing and Print Media departments. I also became a visiting artist at different colleges in Illinois.

In 2000 I moved to Los Angeles, California, where, to this day, I continue with my practice in my studio in downtown LA.
My work has been shown at galleries in Southern California (Chinatown, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Orange County, Inglewood, and Santa Ana), as well as in Northern California. My paintings and drawings have also been shown in Chicago, NY, Indiana, and abroad in Japan, South Korea, Germany, Jordan, and Chile among other places.

Since moving to California, I have been a visiting artist in several universities in California.

My career path has taken me through different countries and different languages which have influenced my approach to my work. My artwork and the process involved in creating it is never literal, yet my work stems from observation of real things like the bedroom floor, a piece of used fabric, and, at times, the observation of exterior spaces, like a system of highways, or the ocean.

I am interested in the transformations that occur when one element ceases to have a certain configuration and becomes a different version of itself. My paintings, mostly oil on canvas, take a long time to create and they end up becoming constructions of constant transformations.

Other entities –like plants, and bodies of water– are at times evident in the work but they function as a device for making explicit how our thinking process connects, divides and entwines our understandings; or how, like poetry, they carry meaning making sense of our lives and worlds. Therefore, my drawings and paintings become constructions of mental spaces.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goals are to develop a visual understanding of our world and lives through my art. I am aware this might not seem too specific particularly when compared to how goals may be defined in other fields, such as history and science, which are disciplines which open doors to a specific understanding and knowledge of life. Art, on the other hand, presents the opportunity for an expanded understanding of ourselves and our culture. Art searches through experience and reflection for meaning, awareness, and sometimes joy. Also, art is present in everybody’s life, although it often goes unnoticed which makes it difficult to quantify it.
I am sure music, or fashion, are key in terms of defining identity and in figuring and expressing feelings and thoughts –for instance, what we wear makes a statement, and many feelings can be expressed through music and imagery.
Thinking about my goals, I think that my art journey is more of an uncharted territory.

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

Few moments are more joyful to me than when I am all by myself at the studio when, having had work for months on end on some pieces, everything starts to make sense and I get a clear understanding of what I have been doing; the work acquires a coherence and a specific direction. Or, simply, I get the feeling that something has been achieved. These moments are rare, because the process is lengthy, and many decisions regarding format, color, and intent are made along the way. But then all gets undone and re-done, which adds layers and depth to specific areas of the work. It is also always very satisfying when people acquire my work. When my paintings find a home it’s a joyful experience, even though, I need to admit, sometimes it is hard to part ways with some pieces.
Another great moment is when a collaboration is established; say a gallery wants to show your work or a museum includes you in an exhibition that that leads to collaborating with curators or other artists.

Contact Info:

• Website: rebecapuga.com
• Instagram: rebecapuga7