Diosmel Gonzalez has been painting and drawing for as long as he can remember, which is why he can’t remember when he decided to become an artist.
“As you live your life, you evolve,” said Gonzalez, who has been teaching ceramics and painting at Memorial High School in West New York since 1997. “You become a better person, hopefully, and feel the need to express different things. Right now I am expressing feelings about illegal immigration. That doesn’t mean that I am going to for the rest of my life.”
Gonzalez will have two of his paintings that address illegal immigration exhibited at the New Jersey Council on the Arts Exhibit at the Jersey City Museum beginning on Jan. 17 and running through April.
Gonzalez, who graduated from the Parsons School of Design in New York and has a Masters of Art degree from Kean University, portrays concepts dealing with immigration, slavery and gaining freedom in his work. Gonzalez also works with themes of religion and idol worship in his sculpture.
Immigrant
Gonzalez came here from Cuba only eight years ago and feels that he had it easy on his way here.
“I just bought a plane ticket,” said Gonzalez. “I feel so attracted to these themes. Imagine if I experienced it.”
The two pieces that will be exhibited at the Jersey City Museum, both portraying groups of people naked on a raft, deal with illegal immigration.
“It depicts how people sacrifice their lives for a better future,” said Gonzalez. “It is not an easy topic to talk about. That is why I used very simple compositions. They are flat with very simple bubble figures.”
“There is such a personal relationship you develop with these people on the inner tube,” continued Gonzalez, explaining how this closeness among his characters motivated him to depict them naked.
However, Gonzalez likes to keep his compositions two-dimensional and simple in design. “I am very two dimensional when it comes to painting,” said Gonzalez. “A painting is flat. I believe that you should leave the canvass as it is.”
“Many of my paintings are very flat,” continued Gonzalez. “The end of the painting is the end of the building.”
Most of Gonzalez’s work includes a lot of architecture and different textures. He often scratches designs into the paint while it is still fresh on the canvass.
Sculpture
Gonzalez began working with clay and sculpture about five years ago. His original interest began in 1992, when he saw a group of people working with clay in a studio outside of Trinidad, Cuba.
“I was amazed by the gigantic size of the pots, which were thrown on kickwheels,” said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez represents different religions and the need that people have to attribute special powers to inanimate objects with his sculpture.
He has also begun working on collages. “I am playing with the idea of making collages with fun objects,” he said.
Gonzalez will also be exhibiting his work at the Kenkeleba Gallery in New York City from March 10 to April 20 as part of The Visual Imaginary of Latinas/os in New Jersey exhibit.
To see more of Gonzalez’s work, visit his web site at www.artlien.com. – Christine Nardone