About the Artist
Juan Esteban Usubillaga also Known as Onecho was born in Caracas, and grew up in various regions of Venezuela. He began studying visual arts at the young age of 12 when he dropped out of his conventional school to attend a private art school. Juan Esteban went on to get his fine art degree at the well recognized University of Venezuela, “la ULA”. His first exhibition, A Separate Reality, was the first of it’s kind to receive sponsorship from the National Committee of Art and Culture in Venezuela (CONAC). A year later in 2004, his senior thesis project, “escalada creativa” also earned full sponsorship from the French alliance of Venezuela in Merida, Venezuela. Since then, he has moved to the United States, married, and painted two more impressive series while partnering to raise his seven-year-old son. His works have been shown in prestigious locations such as: El Hotel Porton in Medellin, Colombia and the Boettcher Concert Hall in Denver, Colorado.
Artist Statement
“To see is to fully listen with an open heart and mind…”
The two key principles that rule both my professional and my personal life are optimism that comes from seeing the beauty and mystery of life and its movement and a constant curiosity about life, consciousness and the universe as a whole. My love to create drives me to explore and investigate; when I create there is a feeling of inner happiness and fulfillment. Furthermore I try to contribute to making art a more intimate experience in our society , hoping it sparks something in our daily lives, something meaningful.
I want to attempt reaching across cultures, age or gender, and to invite people to look and to cultivate Art in their own daily lives Through our own feelings and intuitions beyond preconceived notions.
I believe that Art dissolves boundaries amongst people, cultures and religions, but deeply its vibrancy comes to make people feel. This must be the main goal of it, so whoever witnesses it, should experience somewhat a personal transformation. Therefore, my artwork presents abstract images , non representational , non traditional, and this different view of representing reality comes from the idea or feeling of boundless, non duality and interconnection, my hope is to inspire this view or feelings wich in its essence is an abstract feeling.
Initially, my artwork was influenced by street art and contemporary artists ,which I saw in the streets and in galleries and museums of Venezuela and its capital Caracas, I was very inspired by surrealism and the south american contemporary painters , like Jacanamijoy and Fernando de Sizslo, Once I started my studies in Fine Arts and got to know classic ways of creating visual art, also I begun to look at my own culture of different backgrounds, philosophical and geographical and religious views, and especially the shamanic cultures of native peoples of the amazon, their views and ancient traditions started to resonate on me and showed me a different way to see and understand the messages of color and shape, I understood that beyond classical approach to Art there are vasts other ways of seeing and feeling and creating Art, so during my Academic studies I began to introduce more abstract structures that were ruled by the intention to represent emotion and sensation of movement.. When completing my studies, I knew that what was really calling me was not the traditional representation in painting, or the postmodern view of Art by European aesthetics, I craved going to explore a pathless space where new art could be created
An evolving collision of both worlds, academic and south american abstract painting and spiritual sincretism, became the result of my current style. This was made possible by applying the color in brighter and sometimes fluorescent colors and gradient transitions and bringing the organic and wavy nature of movement structures. all of it nurtured by my constant attention of what the mind and heart is holding deep.
Not only contemporary abstract painting and latin and Global street art has been my undoubted source of inspiration, but also the teachings of the caribbean land, the forest , the plants, and the deep roots of ancient traditions of relationship with nature and spirit, south american pre columbian culture has had an important influence and continues to be an untapped source of inspiration.
I think that Art must be present in public spaces as well as in private places.
My mission is to recreate these spaces in a way that people feel and spark joy and a meaningful experience .