Prints Charming

Mixed-media artist takes the paper route

Comments (0) By Steve Jansen Thursday, Jul 12 2007

Some folks, especially art critics, would call Fausto Fernandez's latest body of work "mixed-media creations," a cryptic term that can refer to just about any visual artwork juxtaposing multiple mediums. Text with oil paints. Vinyl shrapnel and dead bugs glued to a cigarette box. Rattlesnake dung smeared on Rothko-esque color gradients.

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However, Fernandez is one step ahead of us well-meaning, but not always artsy-fartsy-talking, writers when speaking about his "Blue Prints" series. "Even though these paintings are collages, I like to call them paintings with paper," says Fernandez. "Instead of using paint, I use the color of the paper and try to keep the oils, acrylics, and recognizable images off the work."

The Mexican-American artist also utilizes tar, maps, and hyper-detailed sewing patterns to create highly visual and appealing works that comment on the larger world around us. "[These works] represent the guides that we follow in our life to create a more stable way to go through daily routines... our will to maintain mechanical relationship is how we lack freedom."