Justin Nieto -

For my curatorial rationale it has a broad scope of different works, and ideas. From artworks I like and don’t I have it all. My goal this year was to put actual effort into my art and expand my horizons by trying out new mediums I have never tried before. Last year covid greatly impacted all of us and me especially with my artwork not having all of these resources available to me.

I wouldn’t say I have one overarching theme, I just draw whatever I like and want to draw. Last year's artwork was very restricted and I could have done so much higher quality work if we weren't online. Online school made me very lazy and it shows in my art, it was very low effort work. However this year it has completely changed. This year I have made many works I am proud of and I have made strides to expand my horizons by doing new mediums. I have worked with two new mediums this year and it was so fun learning about them and how to properly use the mediums. Some artists who have influenced me are mostly famous mangaka such as Eiichiro Oda, Hirohiko Araki, Takehiko Inoue, Kentaro, and Akira Toriyama. I paint landscapes based off of the works that these mangaka have written. I choose these mangakas because they have bright and eye-catching art styles and their landscapes are so surreal and make it very fun to look at. Another artist who has inspired me was Takashi Murakami, HIs eye popping characters and designs is what made me choose him to make a print out of one of his designs. I wanted to do acrylic paint because all of last year I only did pencil drawings there was no color at all. So this year I decided to change it up and make something way more bright and colorful. I decided to go with acrylic paint because it has very nice colors and is very visually appealing in my eyes.

My current work I plan to reflect a little more of me rather than just senseless paintings I want there to have meaning. Recently art has been more than just a class to me. I have found ways to express myself through art and it is something that I want to explore. Overall I am happy with my progression as an artist and I will continue to grow and express my creativity and emotions through my art.