theartofrome

The Art of ROME

The collected works of Rome Bautista

Hey there and welcome to my online art gallery. I really appreciate you taking the time to visit. Please feel free to browse through my art, as I hope that my artistic voice will inspire you. This site features a collection of what I've created, but what I've produced is not limited to this collection. Unfortunately, I have not been able to track other pieces I've sold, donated or given away over time . However, I hope that what you see here will serve as a representation of who I am and where I continue to go in my incredible journey. Be sure to check back often as I will be adding more of my work regularly. I hope you continue to enjoy - you are always welcome here.

BIO

A native of Southern California, Rome Bautista is a visual and emotional explorer. He has worked as a model, choreographer, dancer, and theatrical performer. A formally-trained actor (professional name: Rome Romanne), his theatre background developed into a direct gateway toward his constantly evolving artistic vision. Having travelled extensively as a model, his experiences abroad have added extra layers to his art, affording him a way to open his eyes to different cultures and observe their respective cultural artistic identities. He strives to translate this - figuratvely and sometimes, directly - into his pieces.

As an academician, his pursuits began as a double-major, graduating with honors from El Camino College with degrees in Liberal Studies and Geography. It eventually led to two bachelor's degrees, graduating Suma Cum-Laude from both UCLA and the Cal State Uuniversity system. Eventually, Rome left the life-long familiarity of Southern California and relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts to continue his studies as a graduate student at Harvard. While in the East Coast, he continued to support himself as a model.

Unfortunately, life has never been easy for Rome. With no formal training as an artist, he grew up starving for artistic encouragement. Ironically, he can trace his creative aspirations back to his upbringing, having been brought up in a difficult home where excessive discipline was prevalent. With no attainable artistic outlet, he totally immersed himself in the arts by way of what little opportunities he could gather from school and recreational activities from his community. He admits that television was also a means to the arts; he considers the medium as his surrogate parent growing up, feeding his hunger for culture and visual stimulation. Abuse was systematic and commonplace in his home, often inhibiting his overall personal growth. He often found solace in his art, utilizing his artistic expression as a mental hovel from which to temporarily escape his volatile environment. He struggles with a lifetime of recovering from what he deems an unnecessarily harsh childhood.

From his late-teens to early adulthood, Rome became a tireless child advocate by contributing his life to mentorship for young performers. He became a dance sports precision choreographer, affording him the opportunity to touch the lives of so many young people through performance. It proved an intensely rewarding opportunity, one that sharply contributed to his own personal healing.

Some of the "sub-issues" in his art have always been the result of his response to the negativity that people can tend to inflict on each other. A true "emotional receiver," Rome has always been sensitive about his response to unkind people - "roaring verbal vultures," as he describes in his poetry - and all his life he has experienced it. It saddens him to think that some of his perpetrators were members of his own family. However, such a life has triggered an intense desire to press on toward a better one, constantly working to not fall into the fringes of society.

Fortunately, he has been able to pick up the pieces, continuing to carve out a wonderful personal life. Now planning to spread his time between Beverly Hills and the Boston area, he tries to surround himself with a wonderful, supportive circle while continuing to develop himself as an artist.

(Commissioned piece. Courtesy, C. Remmes, Charlestown, MA)

Jewry Wall
Acrylic on Canvas

24x36

As an artist, I like to believe that my work transcends the confines of genre, although my inherent predisposition heavily leans toward the abstract. I also initiate an equal penchant for deconstructionism, but don't get me wrong: Instead of an explicit, abrasive reaction that can tend to shock the viewer, I want my work to whisper to its audience, as if a pressing afterthought to the literal. I consider the indelible impression a much more important experience than the material form. I try to reflect that through all genres of my art, as this site illustrates below: paintings, photography, and wire sculpture.

ROME'S

ONLINE GALLERY