We recently connected with TLaloC (AKA Eduardo Corral) and have shared our conversation below.

TLaloC, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Among the most interesting projects I’ve undertaken in my art career is being chosen as the designer and creator of the official trophy for the first Spotify Awards—”the first awards ceremony based 100 percent on user-generated data.” The design aimed to establish a tangible connection with the concept behind the 2020 Spotify Awards: “The Polygon,” visually representing the movement of the dancing body reacting to the music. This festival took place in Mexico City for the first time in 2020, just before the pandemic hit.

Regarding my most representative and meaningful projects, I would like to emphasize my last two major solo exhibitions “Nerve Center” (2023) and “Orbit Tertius Hlaer to Jangr” (2021). The exhibitions included sculpture, illustration, animation, neon signs, and light artworks, which work together to create an otherworldly experience. Both were massive site-specific installations presented in a pitch-dark environment, illuminated only by the artworks themselves. Enhanced by fog, scents, sound, and projected videos, these exhibitions offered a captivating multi-sensory experience that unfolded throughout the entirety of the North Avenue Market space—an abandoned historical location in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, where I currently reside and work as an educator at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).”

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

I am an illustrator, artist, and designer born in the industrial city of Monterrey, Mexico. Like many, my journey as an illustrator and artist began at a young age, but it professionally started with my first freelance jobs as a graphic designer around 2001—long before I realized that making a living as an illustrator was possible.

My first professional opportunity came from a small job in a wedding magazine. It was thanks to this unlikely gig that I later met a collaborator with a direct connection to Grupo Reforma’s El Norte (the largest newspaper in Mexico). Six months later, following an initial interview, El Norte reached out to me and offered a position as a full-time illustrator. El Norte became my art school, shaping my path as a professional illustrator and later revealing my true identity as a visual artist.

After three rewarding years at El Norte, during which I embraced every opportunity to learn, I chose to pursue an independent path to delve deeper into discovering my artistic practice. Coincidentally, just a week after departing from the newspaper, a former teacher extended an offer for a position as an adjunct teacher. This unexpected turn marked one of the most important decisions I’ve ever made. I’ve now spent 15+ years (and counting) working as an educator alongside my artistic practice, making it one of the most rewarding activities in my career.

In 2012, I made another significant change by pursuing my MFA as an illustrator. With the support of my family and the privilege of being selected as a Fulbright Scholar, I studied at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) for my Master of Fine Arts in Illustration Practice. Those two years were undeniably the most crucial in my career as an interdisciplinary artist, pushing my creative boundaries beyond the two dimensions where my work had previously idled. Upon completing my MFA, MICA offered me a teaching position in the former Foundations Department, now called FYE (First Year Experience). Unfortunately, due to visa regulations, I had to return to México for at least two years before I could accept any job offers in the United States.

Back in my hometown, I worked at the Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM) as a full-time professor in the Graphic Design department, concurrently teaching in the postgraduate course in Advanced Architecture and later becoming a full-time professor in the Department of Arts. During this time, I completed four large-scale solo exhibitions, experimenting with previously unexplored materials and processes, such as neon lights, large-scale laser cut/engraving works, aluminum lathe sculptures, and more. After these exhibitions from 2014 to 2018, I was ready to explore new territory. Thus, I focused on creating new illustrations with greater visual complexity, allowing me to once again refine my style as a professional in the field.

In 2018, MICA opened two full-time positions, one in the Illustration department and another in the FYE First Year Experience department. I applied for both, becoming a finalist in both categories. Ultimately, I was selected to be a part of the FYE department, with the amazing opportunity to teach alongside the Illustration Department—an unexpected but incredible outcome. Being a student and then a teacher at my alma mater has been an invaluable experience, completing a full circle.

Now, back in Baltimore, I can see years of tremendous growth. From creating multiple award-winning illustrations recognized in worldwide renowned competitions to designing the first-ever Spotify Awards trophy. The culmination is Orbis Tertius -Hlaer to Jangr-, my fifth solo exhibition, and the winning short film that emerged from its documentation—my first short film; and finally, “Nerve Center,” featured at last year’s Artscape 2023, America’s largest free outdoor arts festival, with many projects to come.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The primary mission guiding my creative journey, both as an artist and educator, is rooted in the responsibility to share the knowledge I’ve accumulated through years of self-training as a creative professional. My goal is to create a comprehensive guide, presented in the simplest way possible, allowing others to navigate the path that has led me to where I am today.

As an artist, I find significance in sharing each new idea and process demanded by my artistic practice. This involves responding to personal interests, hobbies, preferences, and the evolving styles in my current environment. This sharing takes shape through my participation in exhibitions, competitions, and other activities that inform and provide feedback to my artistic voice. In my role as an educator, having succeeded in establishing myself as an artist without guidance or support during my formative years underscores the vital responsibility of mentoring aspiring artists. Many may find themselves without a guiding compass as they navigate their artistic journey, striving to cultivate a personal and distinctive voice within the art world.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative lies in the profound joy derived from building imaginary worlds. My work serves as an ongoing and playful exploration of materials and processes and technologies, to give life to peculiar universes filled with impossible taxonomies. Among the most recurring and identifiable themes in my work are the fascination with the unknown, the obsolescence of things, collective memory, nostalgia, and the elaboration of non-existent languages.

The aesthetic of my work is characterized by strangely familiar objects and characters intricately interwoven with diverse technologies. Intentionally crafted to emulate machine-made objects, alluding to the grand scale of a serial manufacturing factory.

The variety in dimension is crucial to transmitting the underlying narrative in my work. The recurrent size-shifting elements in my work are a direct allusion to my childhood. The recognizable shapes in my work are reminiscent of didactic toys fused with unknown elements from a bygone era. The intention of presenting them in many materials and variable scales is to recreate the same playful process I had as a kid: playing with a vast array of objects, rearranging them and interchanging their meaning, building cities, tearing them down, and building them up again from scratch.

Ultimately, the most important aspect of being an artist, for me, is creating things that I love. Simultaneously, I use these creations as devices to understand a more profound version of myself. My sincere conviction is rooted in producing work that authentically reflects who I am, all the while aspiring to generate beautiful objects and experiences for others to appreciate.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.elgreenproject.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tlalocorral/

Image Credits
1.SPOTIFY AWARDS Design 2.NERVE CENTER PHOTO-BY-VIVIAN-MARIE-DOERING- 3.FUNES photo by Nate Larson www.natelarson.com 4.Funes Photo by Nate Larson 5.Photo by Justin Timothy Temple 6..el+sendero+de+las+ninfas 7.EL ZAHIR x TLaloC 8.EXTRUDERS