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

Alright, Vincent 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?

A project that really stands out to me is one in which I worked with a clothing company to create a unique design for their tee shirts.

We decided to screen print my drawings directly to one shirt- a stuttering orange to represent the Florida-centric concepts in my work. For the other shirt, we poured a flower casting and later attached it to the fabric. This technique acted as a nod to my mold-making background, while still exploring new material backdrop for the art to sit against.

This collaboration really stuck with me because it showed me how important it is for visual artists to work with other creatives. These unions push you to think differently about your work, the perspectives driving it, as well as how it might present to the world.

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?

My name is Vincent Miranda and I’m a visual artist from Broward County, Florida. Using sculptural objects in silicone and glass, my work depicts a lived experience as it intersects with Southern Hip-Hop, Masculinity, and Nature— unpacking how these entities shape Southern identity, particularly for young men-of-color.

Raised in a White and Afro-Caribbean household, I grew up caught between opposing cultural identities. This created an “identity vacuum”- a void that would eventually be filled by my surrounding environment: ‘the Down South’.

Referencing gestures, humidity, and foliage, these sculptural objects convey the landscape of a ‘Contemporary South.’ Exploring an inherent need to ‘peacock’ or ‘flex’ masculinity via gestures, his sculptures draw parallels between the body and how Nature flexes in its own way. The juxtaposition between fragile florals and hardened gestures push the viewer to re-imagine what it means to embody masculinity.

An underlying thread throughout the work is the “Come Up”; the need to present ourselves as having ‘come up’ out of certain socioeconomic conditions. As a way to portray this ‘Down South’, jewelry is often adorned and referred to as ‘water’ or ‘glass’, for its reflective quality. The glass vessels reference these terms and are ultimately used to represent this upward mobility.

Something I find unique about my work is the way that it straddles this line between ‘fine art’ and ‘cultural symbolism’. There’s a beauty in the things I see in my surroundings, but one that doesn’t get much representation in institutions and galleries. This is where my work is operating best, in bridging this gap.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding part of being an artist is this opportunity to have these deeply personal connections, on a regular basis. I am a very visual person in that I express myself best through making and creating; aside from that, I tend to be calm and quiet. So for me, those moments that happen every time a viewer connects with your work is essentially my primary opportunity to express myself. These deeply personal connections are me, sitting with the viewer, looking each other in the eye- that’s the most rewarding part of being an artist, that unbridled authenticity.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I recently read a book by producer Rick Rubin titled ‘The Creative Act’. In it, he explores various way of making and being creative, both old and new, that artists have been taught to live by. By exploring the history in these trends, he also begins to break them down. As a student of the arts for the better half of my lifetime, I didn’t even realize how ingrained these philosophies were in me. By reading this book, it really allowed me to rethink these approaches to making, and come at my practice embracing more of my true authentic self. Realizing that your take on your work is all that matters, and that other peoples reactions are going to span across the spectrum, regardless what you’re making.

This book brought on these realizations during a time that I was questioning some aspects of my work, and truly making me comfortable to create again. For this reason, ‘The Creative Act’ is a book I am always quick to suggest to other artist and creatives- it is absolutely a must-read

Contact Info:

• Website: VincentMirandaArt.com
• Instagram: @vincentmiranda_

Image Credits
Maria Mor Photography (for headshot image)