Emilio Hinojosa

A New World

 My exhibition is centered not around an abstract theme or certain object, but inspired by a franchise. A franchise that I hold incredibly dear to my heart, and wanted to represent in my exhibition. It is one that has elicited so many emotions in me, and so I have always wished to have the opportunity to do the same for others. I sought to recreate those feelings of wonder through my artworks. This franchise was that of Pokemon, mainly the games. 

For context, each new main entry of the games takes place in a fictional region, often with inspiration from a real-world location, like that of New York or Spain. The game’s genre, that of creature-collecting, consists of exploring this setting and discovering new fauna. This captured my imagination from a young age and it still does; this sense of exploring a whole new world and fantasizing about living in it and being able to interact with fantastical creatures was what I wanted to recreate. 

What inspired me to do this is the fact that many people have already taken it upon themselves to create regions and games based in the franchise or on it. Seeing that it was possible for me, too, to instill this sense of wonder in others in just the way I wanted led me to create this. 

The first artwork is a 3D piece of an island, created with air-drying clay, which is a representation of my “region”. It gives an overview of what locations could exist in my fictional region, functioning as a kind of map. It is accompanied by three artworks done in acrylics which represent three locations in this fictional region that I wanted to highlight. The first is that of a city, built inside a large cavern. The franchise has always mixed fantasy and modern together to create a believable world that one could escape to, so I wanted to do the same. The idea of an underground metropolis I found interesting and so wanted to represent it. The second is that of a more normal looking city, with a large tower in the middle. The third is that of a smaller island off the coast of the mainland. Both of these portray a more down-to-earth portrayal, with less fantasy. All of this is to show the diversity in the region’s locations. 

After that comes four similar pieces, all of special fauna that live in this world.. A common theme in creature-catching games is the ability to pick a “starter” to aid you. That’s what these three are, but they’re more than that. One of the core design philosophies of Pokemon is the idea that every single one can be your partner or friend; some may look more animalistic or fierce than others but at the end of the day you can form a bond and friendship with each one. The three animals in the pieces are supposed to be your friends, something that you can trust and grow a bond with, and so are all designed with that in mind, while each being unique in their own way. 

All of these are meant to be viewed as a group, not separately. Although it is more than possible to They’re meant to invoke excitement in the audience, a feeling of wanting to explore in detail this fictional world. Going through the exhibition in order is like going through an adventure, starting with arriving at the new, strange region, then meeting your partner and new people.