Alex Cave: I have been exploring your “Unmasked” series, but I was wondering if you could tell me a little more about some of your past projects and maybe how they relate to your works in “Unmasked”.

Wilfredo Valladares-Lara: Let’s see, I did one project that I can speak of which would be somewhat connected to that; “Offering to the Mayan God” is the title of the project. That project started with a idea of a connection to agriculture in a way. At the time I was thinking about seeds that would be traveling in some way. Obviously, from my point of view I was thinking about seeds that will be transmitted into visual three dimensional form. And then I was thinking about, at the same time, the Mayan mythology - in terms of how important the corn was for them, in terms of being the staple for the economy of the early Mayan civilization. And then how that was connected, also to the spiritual life and ceremonies that they would do, and how they would also protect the seed so that they would have them for a long time. That sort of mythology got me thinking about seeds that travel, and seeds that float in water. They would travel and germinate in different places. From there, that’s sort of the core of the idea; how in a way we, as in people, are kind of like seeds. We migrate and, also, we can plant ourselves in different places in the world and express there. That is kind of like the process that I did, so visually what I had done with the project, and it almost became part of my thesis in a way, for my graduate school - I designed sculptures that would have history at the same time because they were inspired by the corn shape and also the ability to float in water. So that sort of became a group of sculptures that ended up being part of an installation that became almost like a ceremonial piece that was installed in the Potomac River. So that became the piece that, almost, for me, could be like an offering to the corn god. So, basically, it’s almost like me channeling that mythology, but with the visual information, and almost trying to recreate the ceremonial piece that the Mayans would use to continue to have that relationship with the god of the agriculture, or the god of the corn specifically. So, yeah I don’t know how much you want, I can go on and on forever but instead of staying on Mayan mythology, I will try to connect it to the Unmasked. In that, I am thinking of that same concept, that we, as people, migrate. So that is the connection to that, and you kinda know more about the Unmasked works.

Cave: Well, thank you so much for telling such a beautiful story - you know from the idea’s conception to creation, do you find that most of your projects go through the same steps, or do you find that each project sort of comes about in its own way?

Valladares-Lara: That’s a good question. For me, I think, it varies because sometimes the inspiration will come, obviously from my own experience in whatever I am connecting to the journey of being an artist, or being a part of society - a part of the whole thing. But most of the time I go back and think about memories that I have, maybe a childhood memory that’s kind of there. And then somehow it gets to be mixed with whatever is happening now, or whatever my experience is now. And I go from there, you know sometimes I think about a particular material or subject matter, like in that case; agriculture becomes the core of the thinking, and in that case agriculture is so vital for existence in a way. So, I think about those things and I connect them to what I’m interested in developing. It can come from memory, from old experience, or from a particular material that might trigger something related to that memory, or something related to that experience - and then somehow from all those ingredients, the narrative becomes a little more clear to me. And then just by having that combination of things I go and I start shaping material or whatever I use for the pieces.

Cave: I know your pieces stem so much from your own experiences, so when you do the commissions, do people come to you to share your experiences or do they want you to use your technique to represent a different story? Do you know what I mean - I guess more simply - do you get to tell your own stories even though it is someone commissioning the work from you?

Valladares-Lara: So with commissions I would say, like from my own experience...The commission work is very different than what happens at the studio. But I think that my participation in those projects, what I try to bring is that sense of community and also try to bring some part of my work that is not too far from what I’m doing. So that it still has a connection with what I’m doing, but also to allow myself to collaborate with the community because you know, especially in my case, most of the commissions that I have done have a very close connection to the community. I will give you an example; so when I was working on a commission for the downtown of Silver Spring, Maryland the commission had a specific idea, like the committee or whoever started the project, when they were approaching the artist, so it wasn’t like a competition. So one of the things that they wanted to tell the artists was that they wanted the artists to tap into, I guess, the history of Silver Spring, and then they also wanted the artists to, I guess, look into not just the past history, but what the city was going through in the present. So then, the next thing is being told “so here’s the specific site for the sculpture”. Then the artists had to work with those three things. So what I end up doing is, I sort of went back to old photographs, I went to the archives of Silver Spring to learn more about the city and the people. And then from there I started looking at Silver Spring and the projects that the community was thinking about. For me, it was mostly about the history, because I work with history in my own work. And then for that piece I ended up presenting an idea of an organic design that will inspire people not just to look back but to reflect on themselves and at the same time to be inspired by the transformation of materials and also of the community. So with that sort of thing, the community is really involved like in all of my public commissions.

Cave: So, as a professor, what kinds of things, or lessons, do you hope that your students learn from you that they might not get somewhere else?

Valladares-Lara: [laughs] Oh, that’s a really good question. Hmmm. At the college, one of my first jobs is to introduce the students to the world of three dimensionality in sculpture, along with the history of sculpture, techniques, processes, and all of that. And its mostly introducing students to the foundations and the principles of design and the elements of design and things like that. But the whole core for me of what I want them to walk away with, beyond the techniques and processes, I want them to basically take away the love for sculpture, and that they will have a different perspective when they go back to a museum so when they look at a sculpture they can start looking at things differently. But most importantly, they also walk away with the inspiration that they can all become artists. And then to think critically about what they do in their own design but also to understand that it is a very serious responsibility to be an artist.

Cave: Well thank you so much for your time! This was so great, I’m really excited.

Valladares-Lara: I’m so glad that I could be able to help you.