David Gomez I am a Mexican-born American artist working in the mostly rural state of Arkansas. From a young age, I have always been inspired by the colors and shapes of my environment. From my childhood memories of my motherland, I remember being drawn to the beauty in daredevil graffiti impossibly mounted on structures so far up that it made my blood run cold. It created a desire to create art even if it was unwelcome or daunting. When my family moved to the US, creating artwork took a new meaning. It allowed me to communicate and feel included even when I could not speak with my classmates. Unfortunately, my rising star prospects as an artist came to a halt after high school and my art career did not take its wings at an early age. Most of my adult life has been a chrysalis of routine, hustle, and a fight for survival. However, my artwork re-emerged after I began to succeed in my corporate fight to the top. Instead of moving forward on a setback (take a severance package or move to another department in my company), I decided to pursue my lifelong passion of becoming an artist. Like an act of defiance to climb up under an overpass to leave my mark, I took my severance package and bought an empty marker and watercolor paper. I began to paint, even if what I created was unwelcome and the cost of failure irreparable. In my recent work, I draw emotion, shapes and patterns from tough years of given up dreams and from life experiences that challenged me in an existential level. I create works out of chaos, contradictions and disaster and meticulously balance them to generate an image that offers comfort and solace. I use graffiti-like patterns, textures, and shapes from things I have seen in my environment. My work begins with the assumption that chaos is inevitable, but I offer an optimistic perspective to engage with the ravaging whirlwinds of existence. I like to think that my work offers beauty in the midst of chaos, in the way those unknown vandals offered me a glimpse of beauty even when they didn’t know or care that they did.