How would you describe your style? It’s something that I’m still trying to figure out. I would say my work falls under realism, with a hint of surrealism. For me, if something’s done photo-realistically, there has to be a reason why it’s not just a photograph. I always try to add somethi ng that breaks the gravity of realism, to make something a little bit more interesting. It’s kind of hard to give it a word: realistic surrealism. What medium do you gravitate towards? I love murals. I love painting on a large scale. I love that it’s public and democratized for everybody. I love painting with spray paint, as well. I also love painting with oil and the methodology that’s behind it, from different mediums to different colors and how you combine them. I like how malleable the material is. You can push and pull oil paint around. It’s a really gratifying way to paint. What do you like about murals, as an art medium? Representation, I think, goes so far. People oftentimes don’t consider the importance of making work that makes people feel seen. I think murals are an especially great platform for that, because they’re large scale. I’ve seen kids get really emotional at the work because they see themselves in it. I get emotional whenever I see people responding to [my work] in certain ways. I get reminded of why I do what I do in the first place. For me, it’s about empowering people, putting people on 20-foot buildings makes them feel big. That’s why I try to put in as much thought as possible anytime I go into a new mural. I ask, “What is it that I’m trying to do here?” Because there’s an opportunity to do something special. And, the fact that it is democratized for all. As we all know, art is not always cheap. Most people can’t just drop a few thousand dollars on a painting, and I think a lot of people aren’t really exposed to art because of that. With a mural, a lot of times it’s someone’s first experience seeing art. And, as seen on the Plaza Walls, there’s a plethora of different styles. It lets people have more of an opinion on what they like and what they don’t like. I think murals are the artwork for the people, and that’s something I love to be a part of—that movement. If you look at the last few years, street art and graffiti culture has been dictating a lot of the art that is being put into galleries now. A lot of these artists who I look up to and admire, who are street artists, are now doing large paintings for galleries all over the world. It’s very interesting to me to see how it starts on the street and then percolates up to the top.I’ll be doing murals for as long as I can, even though it’s taxing on the body––pulling 12 hour days on scaffolding. But, I think it’s very important work, and I try to always remind myself of that. “One Lost Soul In A Fishbowl” | Photo provided How are murals different than painting? Painting is a lot more personal, that is where I find my personal voice. With a mural, I can be very influenced by whatever my client wants; I know that they have an expectation of what they want on their property and on their building, and I’m always mindful of that. But, when I have a canvas and all my paint, I can just do whatever I want. So, that’s where you see, I think, my most honest style or interpretation of things. Could you walk me through a painting? [Looking at “One Lost Soul In A Fishbowl” hanging on the wall in his studio]I stumbled upon this picture of my sister that I took when I visited her in Italy. So, I started doing a sketch of it on a small canvas. Then, I started thinking about what the painting could be, and I started to think about my sister and our own story. As I was drawing, I felt like it needed to be on a bigger canvas, that it should be a proper painting instead of just a study. So, I put the study aside, grabbed a canvas, and started painting. I had the subject, so I started to think about what to put around it. I was thinking a lot about when she moved away to Italy. We were undocumented at the time, and she chose to leave the country because she just wasn’t getting the opportunities that she wanted to, which I understood. But, it was still very sad to see my sister go. At the time, I couldn’t leave the country, which meant that she couldn’t come back in and I couldn’t leave. There was this moment where we both realized, “I don’t know when we’ll see each other.”’ When we were going to the airport to drop her off, this song, “Wish You Were Here,” by Pink Floyd, was playing on the radio, and it felt very much like a needle drop moment in a movie for me. Every time that I hear that song it just makes me think about that moment, which was very emotionally charged and gave the song a whole new context. So when it came time to do the painting, I thought about that song. There’s a lyric, “We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl,” so I decided the background would have the surrealist nature of fish swirling around, making somebody look like they’re in a fishbowl separated from everybody else. That’s why the background gets more abstract and contemporary, because it is like a whole different world. All these ideas started to come to the surface, and the painting––the reason why I’m painting it––started to make sense to me. I always try to find that emotional hook that makes me excited to paint. Has painting always been a grounding or emotional experience for you? Not really. [In the past], it was a way to pass the time. A lot of my early work was not that good; I mean, it’s technically good, but I feel like I was just practicing, in a way. You know, where I was learning how to paint textures, learning how to draw the human body, learning how to do hair. So it would just be really flat images of a person or what have you. But now, in retrospect, that was really important for me to get to the point I’m at now. Now, I have something I want to say, and I have the tools to render it. It’s really just been recently that I’ve decided to just go ahead and be a painter, you know, to be an artist. I have to put some more thought into the work that I do, so I try to always have a little bit of context in my paintings. I also think that just makes more original, interesting work, when you’re pulling from things that are very specific to you. Have you always been an artist? I mean, I’ve always been painting and drawing. I was also very obsessed with film and movies, so a lot of my influences come from cinematic work and storytelling. What has it been like maintaining your practice? I’m still figuring it out. I kind of fell into murals by accident. I was doing a nine to five before I did my first mural. I very quickly quit my job and decided just to follow this wave that I was having where I did my first mural and then somebody else wanted one, and somebody else. My idea was, “I can keep doing this until the work dries out, and then I’ll go back to my nine to five.” But, now it’s been seven years. The work has kept coming, and the opportunities are getting better and better as the years go on.It’s something that me and my contemporaries always talk about, the stress that comes from having to invent something every time you go out, and then trying to maintain a certain level of success. It is really difficult. But, because none of us know what we’re doing, maybe that’s why it works. We are just following curiosity. And, that’s usually where the best work comes from, following your curiosity instead of creating products. How did Canopy start, and what is it? Dusty Gilpin and I got in here in October of 2024. [It was] an abandoned place. Every artist that you speak to in Oklahoma City always says the same thing; Everybody’s looking for working space, and there just isn’t much available. So, we were always on the lookout for great places to work. He’s the one that came to me with this spot. It was very clear to us that we wanted to bring in more people to be a part of this. We currently have 5 artists here: Dylan Broadway, Tony Thunder, Maeve Wise, Dusty, and me. When people come in and ask us what the place is, I feel like we all have different answers, and that’s what makes it exciting. So, we don’t quite know. We know it’s a working space, but it’s also a community space. It’s also an event space. We sing karaoke from time to time; we watch Thunder games. It’s a place that’s welcoming to people in the community to come and be creative, to paint and draw with us. Anybody can come in here and talk to us if they want to, whether they have questions or need advice about the art world here in Oklahoma City. Mostly, we’re winging it and figuring it out as we go. But, at the moment, it’s just a really exciting place to be, and especially being here in the Plaza District. I believe that any place that calls itself an art district needs to give artists more space. We’re very grateful to be a part of it. And I’m excited for what we come up with this year, to see what we do. What has it been like working alongside other artists? I mean, just before you came in, I was talking to Dusty about a mural that I’m currently trying to put together, and I was just running ideas by him. It’s great to talk to other artists because I think it’s kind of our job to have our finger on the pulse, on what’s exciting, and what the time calls for. It’s been a real blessing to be with talented people who can give me advice that I can really listen to and take into account. Also, I see people working and it inspires me to work, as well. And, when I see them doing great work, it inspires me to do great work, too. I think it’s a space where everybody benefits from each other. What do you think about the Oklahoma City arts community? I think it’s a really great place with a great art community. Everybody’s really friendly, and I don’t feel like there’s ever any real sense of competition. Everybody here is super supportive. And, I think because we’re still a young city, we’re all really excited to be part of a group of artists that may help establish what the look of Oklahoma City is going to be. What advice would you give to a young artist? I think about this question all the time. Ultimately, for me, what has worked well is focusing on the work first. I just want to be able to do the best work that I can, and that’s what I’m mostly worried about. So, I would tell younger artists to first focus on their work, to make sure that they have something interesting to say, and to look and see what’s great out there. Then, they should try and find ways to do it on their own terms. The work should always be the most important part; do something that’s very unique to you. And, the way to do that is to really dig in and see what makes you unique. What scares you? What makes you sad? Be vulnerable in your work. Usually, that’s when something really interesting and captivating comes through. The post Carlos Barboza appeared first on Oklahoma Gazette. ...read more read less