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

Alright, Teresa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

My “In Red” series has been a long, meaningful project that remains ongoing. It houses deep, dark emotions in layers of acrylic paint and keeps them away from mind. I tend to spiral sometimes and putting emotion to canvas has helped in getting me out of said spirals. They are pieces that have taken the role of housing my pain, my suffering, unwanted memories, and take the burden of locking said emotions away and range from the feeling of being lost, to depicting how I feel inside, to express my hurt, to revealing who I could be and to lock away experiences in my life. Every painting has a story, an emotion behind it. They are stories one would be shocked to hear, but as I lock them away I am no longer scared to tell as these are my experiences, my stories, and in art form, are very valuable to me as they represent who I am.

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

I am Teresa, 25 years old with a lot of things in my head to think about. Sometimes, said things are just thoughts and those thoughts become too much to hold on to. I started my craft around high school, though lost drawings and old sketchbooks reveal that I have been using art to cope since my elementary years. I don’t necessarily provide them as a sort of product; my creative works are mine for now though I do like to display them because I am proud of them. What I do hope to provide is thought-provoking pieces that could be interpreted as the viewer likes. While each one of them is enchanted with meaning, friends and strangers have asked and given me their own interpretation that resonates with them and are all valid no matter how far they are from my own personal meaning. I’m proud of my work. I’m proud of the weight they hold for me, they’re very strong. What I’d like everyone to know is that this is how I express myself. It’s not your typical paint on canvas to create a pretty picture- it’s dark, it’s disturbing, unsettling perhaps, but that’s what makes them special. I pour everything onto these and while I don’t necessarily do it for other people to like them, I do at least hope some are attracted to what meaning they hold. The backgrounds-always black-has meaning. They blacked out eyes have meaning. The gory details have meaning. The red has meaning. Everything that’s layered onto the canvas has a purpose and it’s beautiful when it all comes together.
These pieces are more a window to my mental, my thoughts, myself.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect is everyone’s reactions. Whether negative or positive, it always feels good knowing my art can instill emotions in people. It’s different. Being an artist is hard and when emotion is thrown into the mix, it’s especially hard. The reward isn’t just completing a piece, it’s locking my inner turmoil and having done a great job of doing so that people will react to it. It’s also the reward of peace of mind for me. As mentioned, every piece has it’s own story. I am an over-thinker and the way I envision my mind is similar to that of how I maintain my work space- cluttered and unorganized. The difference is I can’t organize my thoughts the same way I can organize my tools, so putting paint to canvas is my way of storing away my thoughts.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

One would think close people would be supportive. In my case, not so much. I get more support from friends, coworkers, strangers on the internet, extended family sometimes but never from the people I would like it from. It’s tough. I am a very emotional person. In my mind I am always beating myself up for things I shouldn’t be, so when I am told to be quiet about these things, it hurts to think they would rather me be silent and hurting. This applies to my work. They want me to paint pretty pictures and use brighter colors and while I can, they don’t feel right to me. My work speaks to me, comforts me, however it does not speak to them and they view it as though it’s cursed. It got to the point where I created pieces for my own mental and said pieces were thrown in a fire.
That’s my story of resilience. People close to me do not wish to see me paint the way I do because of their beliefs, but if anything, as I look back, it pleases me that it angered someone enough to destroy them. It’s what drove me to continue doing what I do because it helps me, it gives me satisfaction no matter the reaction. Yes, to this day I’m asked why can’t I just draw like normal people do but that’s not what I want. No matter the judgement from those close to me, no matter the reactions, the extremes, I do not wish to let that stop me from expressing myself and I don’t think I’ll ever stop.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ltmtere/