El Prodigo / The Prodigal Painting

Jorge R. Gonzalez Artist Statement Why I started, what has and still inspires me, and why I’m in this Road. Like most visual artists throughout my adolescence, I enjoyed doodling, most classes in school tended to be rather boring to me, which led to my using the side of most composition papers to draw and daydream. As I was entering my high school years, I was inclined to become an airplane mechanic causing my three years of high school to be totally focused on that endeavor. After graduating from high school, I applied my energy into obtaining a degree in the optical field, but halfway through a certain spark of passion awoke in me towards the arts. I started with drawing, which led to printmaking, then photography and at the end of my studies, years down the road I obtained a degree in sculpture. Photography and painting were also my interests, but sculpture was my true calling. After graduation from the university, I started my studio and commenced my career in the Fine Arts in what I thought would be my life for years to come. But life tends to throw you curves and things sometimes don’t go as planned. And this is what happened to me, a life changing event or series of events drew me away from the arts for many years. Raising a family and providing for them became number one in my focus and heart, making the arts secondary placing them on a very small almost nonexistent back burner. It would be almost 20 years before I would return to thinking of and participate in anything related to the arts. Photography became my medium of choice as I started my path once again to what was once my passion. Then a set of events and life choices led me completely back to the arts and a true desire to create and communicate to others through my work was rekindled. I have been influenced by many artists for a variety of reasons. These artists have works that attract me to them in special ways. I have many favorite pieces, but I tend to have a few favorites such Michelangelo’s Moses because of the energy that he was able to bring out of the stone and the size which conveys a true sense of the impact that this man has had on human history, thought and beliefs. Picasso’s Guernica because of the expansive yet intimate capture of a tragedy in his homeland. Starry Night by Van Gogh because of the visual movement that he was able create on a two-dimensional medium. Karel Appel because of the rawness of color and greater than life scale of the pieces.