Graduate student uses undervalued art forms to create meaningful art
Graduate fine arts student Nehemiah Cisneros creates pieces of art influenced by his Los Angeles childhood and exposure to the Lowbrow Art movement. (Anya Yakimenko/Daily Bruin) Nehemiah Cisneros’ art is popping with engaging aesthetics.
As a graduate student in fine arts, he said he is influenced by undervalued art forms such as tattoo art, graffiti and pop surrealism. Though he draws inspiration from numerous things, Cisneros said he is primarily inspired by the artists of the ’90s superhero comics he grew up with such as Todd McFarlane, the artist for “The Amazing Spider-Man” comics. Cisneros said he recalls photos of him drawing spiders at a young age and believes his early style remains present and thriving in his current work.
“I’ve been drawing since I was a 1-year-old,” Cisneros said. “This creature-esque aesthetic has always been present ever since I discovered comics. That was the first art form that I discovered on my own, along with skateboard graphics.”
Cisneros said he grew up during the Lowbrow Art movement in Los Angeles. Cisneros said the movement is commonly recognized for its surrealism and underground visual art, and he pays homage to this style by pulling from underrepresented facets of art, ultimately creating a narrative arc of his own to be openly interpreted and enjoyed by viewers.
As an artist, Cisneros said he pushes for his pieces to hit formally and visually upon immediate impression through his distinct, saturated and hyperbolic visuals. His largest piece to date, “Another Day In Paradise,” is named after a common and witty phrase that was exchanged between him and his peers in school hallways, Cisneros said.
Ensuring his piece is culturally relevant is a fundamental step as well. Specifically, “Another Day In Paradise” challenges and expresses many sociopolitical and cultural phenomena relevant to LA today, Cisneros said. The painting includes references to gentrification, the competing fight for visibility and the marginalization of certain demographics. Returning to LA after having attended college in Kansas City, Missouri, Cisneros said he wanted to create a painting dedicated to the city.
“What I wanted to do was make paintings about familiar areas in LA, this cross street (in ‘Another Day In Paradise’) being Western (Avenue) and Santa Monica (Boulevard) in East Hollywood, and tried to challenge myself with turning the architecture into something as fantastic as the characters that I was painting,” Cisneros said.
Ultimately, Cisneros said he enjoys being near fellow artists and like-minded individuals, learning something new every day and igniting conversations that can otherwise distract him from the worries of school, such as finalizing a piece. He said he hopes that through his art, viewers can pick up on his aesthetic and nods to popular culture. Cisneros also said he aspires to challenge methods in which illustrative art forms can fall under the same cultural relevance as fine art. Currently, Cisneros said he is in the process of leveling up each painting to accommodate his evolving intentions and interpretations as a student.
“That’s how I work – I’ll see something, whether it be images from art history or something that’s in the news or related to popular culture, and then I’ll amalgamate and collage these things together,” Cisneros said. “That shifts the meaning and context of them into what would be perceived (as) my own personal aesthetic.” — Paria Hondardoust, Feb. 23, 2022
This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the Daily Bruin website.
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