[MUSIC PLAYING]
REBECCA TRAWICK: Good afternoon, everybody.
Welcome and thank you for joining us
for today's program presented as part of Wignall Museum's Home
Edition, a series of curated artist talks,
workshops, and discussions, featuring
artists and cultural workers.
My name is Rebecca Trawick.
I'm the director and curator of the Wignall Museum.
The Wignall Museum is a teaching museum,
and interdisciplinary art space, that introduces Chaffey College
students, faculty, staff, and community members
to innovative contemporary art objects and ideas.
By fostering critical thinking, visual literacy, discourse,
and empathy, the museum seeks to enhance
the intellectual and cultural life of our community.
We want to take a moment to recognize that we are situated
on the Rancho Cucamonga campus of Chaffey College, which
resides on the traditional and unceded lands of the Tongva
people.
We offer our respect to the elders
both past, present, and future.
Please let me introduce Pavel to you all.
Pavel Acevedo was born in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 1984.
In 2010 Acevedo relocated to Riverside, California.
He began working in communities of color
and using his work as a tool for activism.
Addressing issues surrounding immigration, social justice,
and education.
Acevedo travels the US giving printmaking workshops
at locations, including Kala Art Institute in Berkeley,
California; New Grounds/Remarque Print Shop in Albuquerque,
New Mexico; Horned Toad Prints in El Paso, Texas;
and College of the Canyons Art Galleries in Santa
Clarita, California.
As an art educator he also collaborates
as part of the I Learn American program working with the high--
working with, excuse me--
high school students in Los Angeles, Washington D.C.,
and Maryland.
Currently Acevedo's been awarded the 2019/2020 Fellowship Artist
from Kala Art Institute, in Berkeley.
And as an Artist in Residence at Self Help Graphics, in 2020.
Acevedo's been commissioned to paint murals at institutions
throughout Southern California.
He is included in public and private collections,
and has exhibited across the US and Mexico.
So please join me in welcoming Pavel Acevedo.
PAVEL ACEVEDO: Hello, everybody.
Thanks for coming.
Thanks for making some time today
to join us in this new format.
Our artists have work right now.
Some talks and any--
you're making demos of--
demos that you like.
So basically this talk is going to be diving, a little bit,
into some elements there have been in the murals
at the Chaffey College.
There are two murals there right now.
The last one was finished just before this pandemic started.
So it was probably two or three weeks ago,
before the shut down started.
And it was inside the dining area.
So I will be talking about it.
And just like--
I will start with that mural, and I
will go to the next mural that's inside the Wignall
Museum of Contemporary Art.
So that's how it's going to be navigating.
In between I wall have some--
bring in some elements from printmaking.
That's mostly what I do.
So the origin of the dining area was about--
it was basically to talk about the dining area
and in what's offered in there.
The elements, the food products, and the students
that come into the dining area.
So we were talking about, what are
the elements of the products that
have been offered in Southern California,
or the Inland Empire?
So we just came up with elements of grapes.
There's a grape camp there in the college.
And the other elements are like oranges, and there's tomatoes.
We just represented mostly elements
that are California produce.
And there's another one, potatoes and lettuces.
So those are the elements in there.
And they're the ones that basically have
been farmed through California.
Basically the most that are generated in California.
So those were the elements.
And around that we would just bring in some other elements.
And of course the San Gabriel Mountains,
they're just right behind the college.
And what is called the Cucamonga Peak.
That's what it's called.
And like they were saying, it's right in the Tongva land.
So that was one of the elements that we're
bringing into this mural.
So the first image that was for the proposal--
if you would like to put it up please.
This was a digital proposal.
And based on the elements.
So the first proposal was a gratitude to the land.
So basically when I'm working with some elements on projects,
I try to see how can I--
what's related to this project, to myself, and to what's
working correctly?
So basically, it was a gratitude to the land.
And I came out with that, because there's
a story that my grandpa used to tell me.
About how you offer the products to the land.
It's in gratitude.
And it's a cycle that you go with.
And that's something they passed from generations
through generations.
My grandpa came from a farming family.
Right in the South Sierra Oaxaca.
That's where he came from.
So they always gave the gratitude to the land.
And at the same time, I was thinking about--
we have the San Gabriel Mountains behind it.
So it's like, what was the big animals that
will be represented?
Because at the same time, talking about the animal
is talking about the power that surround it.
And in other ways to me--
I learned that they're protectors of the land
and of the community.
And a lot of times the community is based on those protectors.
So that's why you will see, on your left hand
side, a child with the mask of a mountain lion, which to
me was like the equivalent of a jaguar for the Oaxaca.
Or for mostly all the South Mesoamerica the jaguar is
the prominent feature of power.
So it's the main one.
On your right hand side, you will
see what could be a farmer.
It could be somebody having respect for the one
who's giving the products and who's showing it.
But at the same time, that person is growing some leaves.
And it's kind of making it more ambiguous who the character is.
And right in the back is the San Gabriel Mountains.
It was like that discussion, and at the same time,
the mountains were too far.
So they wanted to bring it more into the picture.
So we came to the next slide.
But in this one, for example, I came out
to work with the mountain lions based
on my experience with the jaguars.
In Mexico, specifically in Oaxaca where I grew up,
there is the jaguar.
And there's always this dance that's about it.
So there's this community called [SPEAKING SPANISH] where
they always do a carnival.
And basically, it's in honor of the Jaguar.
Because like I said before, it's the main protector.
During the-- in what is called Oaxaca.
Which was the cause and it was to Guerrero,
but it actually [INAUDIBLE] just like farther.
So, the jaguar is the main character, the main protector.
And basically it's like someday--
they're related to one of them main goddesses
from the pre-Hispanic times.
Her name is [SPEAKING SPANISH] which is like a jaguar.
So I remember my grandpa used to always tell me.
He refers to the jaguar like the ruler--
the [SPEAKING SPANISH] or like [SPEAKING SPANISH]..
Which is the Lord of the Wilderness.
He was always like--
he was the main protector.
So it was to me, bringing that--
mixing the animal with the humans,
or with the picture of a person.
You have this connection.
Because that's how I always--
I used to learn tales about it.
So in the next slide, you will see
how changes came to the mural.
And it was like-- the other ones were
more like-- they wanted to see more of the characters--
the faces of the characters that were going to be represented.
So we had one with just the faces.
To me, it felt like it was a little bit farther
from what I was looking for.
But they were concerned too about,
what was the jaguar going to look like?
Or if they were getting the right message.
So for the last one, the next slide--
So that one was for them to see how it was going to look.
For the dimensions.
And this time you see more of a digital illustration.
So I can just get a little bit closer to what
it's going to look like.
And actually I can just present to whoever I'm working for.
Because for artists it's easy to put a random sketch in a paper
and show it.
And you know it's not going to look like that,
but for the public that you're working with,
it's a closed look alike.
So it was navigating instilled with the first sketch,
to the second one.
And it was for them to see what it's going to look like.
The dimensions and what they're going to be seeing.
For example, the grapes you will see on your left.
And the other elements will go on the back.
But it was a close up look.
And for example, I was telling them
the person on your right hand side
was looking down, like showing respect.
It's growing some leaves, some grass, from the body.
And it's used to talk about the connection.
Sometimes we've lost it.
Or it feels like we're too far apart.
Just because of our daily lives, we kind of
lost something about it.
I don't want to say it's totally lost, but it's there, you know?
There's a space sometimes.
And sometimes we just have to work around it.
And just ground ourselves.
To just come back up again.
But I can show you with the next slide.
That was the last sketch.
So for example, in this one it was more having--
including the mountain lion which is
right on the back of her head.
Which is showing who's going to be playing the role of--
in connection with the main character,
or the main protector of the land.
And the San Gabriel Mountains are rising more up.
To me, I always like to have this ambiguous role of what's
around the characters.
To me it suggests--
I like to feel it.
These two characters that you will see in there,
they're like giants.
Because if you have the perspective more critical--
it doesn't work, this perspective,
because they're a child.
So the mountains have to look way higher.
But to me, to me it works because I always
like to have this ambiguous talk about what are these elements
that you see in front.
And I always like to work it because there's this story
that I have always heard.
They always come [INAUDIBLE].
I would like the problem-- we'll say fantasy with reality,
but there's always a lesson from there.
So to me, it works like that.
It's still representing a figure of a child
and it's easy to read for whoever.
I want to always bring those elements
to [INAUDIBLE] and [INAUDIBLE] off.
So the colors were--
for example, the ribbon was representing
because it's one of the main colors for the campus.
You will see in all of their--
in anything they will use, like the stamps.
And they were talking about bringing animals
that would represent knowledge.
And one of them is an owl, or a barn owl.
So that's what you're seeing on your--
above, left and right.
So it's closer in the picture.
And the flowers that you see around there, basically they're
sunflowers.
They're the wildflowers that you will see
all around Southern California.
You will see on the freeways and in all this empty lands
in the Inland Empire.
So that's something I'll always grab.
And we always grab, as the creators.
Everything that you go around, for some reason
would just stick to you.
And sometimes it comes to us in a way that's more like--
really [INAUDIBLE] water comes from your [INAUDIBLE]
like I was saying.
So it's a way to connect and to talk and to link to the land
and try to acknowledge that.
So those are the wild sunflowers that you still can see around.
And there's the potatoes.
They are in the hand of the character in the lion mask.
And the other one has a celery.
In this last one, I didn't include
what you will see in the final mural, which
is tomatoes and lettuce.
That's right in the front.
And that's almost like, you offer the first products
that you would cut from your harvest.
So that's like, a respect and you always
have gratitude for the land.
And that's what I learned from my grandpa.
They will have only one uncle who's still working the land.
And he still keeps doing that.
Keeps doing the same ritual.
So for example, to me--
I found out later on that all this empty land
in between Riverside or Inland Empire
is really a characteristic [INAUDIBLE] to me.
I kind of like being--
now seeing more of my work.
So that was one of the things that I wanted represented here.
You will see in the mural, there's
a little bit of pink on the mountains--
behind the mountains.
There's no final pictures of this mural
because of the pandemic.
So everything got spread.
There was going to be another way to be--
to have like more elements around it, like pollinators,
that didn't work on this side of the wall.
But they did work, in the end, on the opposite side
of the wall.
Because this dining room has two wall painted.
And as you see in these two characters,
they have more elements like herbs or plants
growing from themselves.
Is just like-- as I was talking about,
this disconnection that we have.
That's why the two characters, they're not wearing any shoes.
They're really grounded.
So that's what we're looking for.
Especially in these times, you know?
[INAUDIBLE] more and it's always good to be outside.
It gives you a different perspective.
This is the beginning of the sketch for the mural.
It was just the outlining for that.
This mural was basically--
it was the fastest mural I guess.
It was probably, I would say 10 days.
It was fast.
I had somebody helping me.
So I always like to come from a grey background for the mural,
instead of working around it.
And I always like to incorporate the way
that I like to carve my plates.
Yeah, here's some details about the mural
when it's farther along.
So the idea was, you see-- for example elements
in the body, it's spray paint.
But for the rest It's just acrylic paint and brush.
I do like to use angle brushes.
That will mimic a little bit of the carving,
from the linocuts on the wood cuts.
Yeah I do like that.
That was the feeling and it gives me
the-- it separates for me the way I used to paint before.
I used to like to do paintings when I was back in school.
Trying to get more realistic.
More like a pain.
And right now I can just go between a preen, to a drawing,
to a paint.
I don't know, it's more freedom for me.
For example, you will see in the back, the flowers,
which is the sunflowers-- the wild sunflowers.
I started those ones--
I put the background-- that background as black,
so it could just have more sharp edges.
And I can have more of a high contrast between the colors
and the black.
And have a lot more depth.
So that's what I was working on.
And that's the ribbon, which I did at the same time.
And this time I was just cutting black.
From gray to black, from black to color.
And this was a fun break.
So we can play the next slide, please.
Yeah this is a close up of the details
with the brush and the colors.
I was just thinking about the way, too--
when I paint I try to think or just
be in the mindset of carving a multicolor plate.
So that's an exercise for me.
So it throws me away in a [INAUDIBLE]..
Thinking of painting and thinking about all the images
that I have--
that I learned about what's painting.
Or what oil would look like from painting?
And it keeps me thinking about printmaking.
It keeps me-- what I'm looking at on each carbon I'm placing.
And when I'm trying to reach for the next project.
So it's a good game.
it's like, when you're hungry and you're not
able to go and eat right away.
So you eat a snack just to cheat on your stomach.
That's what I feel with this.
And it works.
This one was like--
I feel like this is what I'm actually looking
for more in the next projects.
So just having those games with color, I think,
will bring color to the mural.
Change it a little bit more.
I do like more.
Then here you will see the final product with the first one.
And they always work around the feature of my daughter.
She's always in my work.
Because we're tight, we're close to each other.
And to me, it's a way to relate to any aspect that is happening
in the moment, too.
And what will happen in the future.
Like her having two identities.
And at the same time too, right now talking about children
is just like opening a layer about what's happening.
Or what's the role of children in this time?
So it's really important to me in every aspect.
So just bringing her into this-- on my artwork is just like
having the importance I think of--
the creativity a child will have in art work
and in daily stuff of life.
So we have this war between a child's creativity
with what could be your adult life.
I don't want to call it always--
say that a child is truly an artist.
I don't see it that way.
I just feel like it's a way for them to think.
And many creative people, we just have--
we always keep it until we decide [INAUDIBLE] to have it.
So you will see more how the final product looks.
And she's just too heavy, too, the weight
of the dimension with the characters.
And I do too have the connection of a female--
probably couldn't be looking like a female aspect.
But it's always like the connection
that could be with us, just around us.
We always have to learn.
And it's about being more open.
And I feel like when a person portrays themselves,
or embraces femininity in their person,
it's always like compassion.
So it's a hard way to learn.
It took a while.
It was always going to take a while.
And we can always learn from a female perspective.
So we can play the next slide.
So for that mural, it was happening--
it was just always like--
I was talking about the landscape
that we always [INAUDIBLE] closed
for work or any other activities that we have.
And to me it's always like, as with many visual artists,
this comes through our eyes-- what we see.
Sometimes we don't know what we're looking at.
And sometimes it will appear in our work.
So I will show, sometimes, places that I like to do--
more recent projects.
If you want, we can play the video.
There's a video there.
I just recently did it.
PAVEL ACEVEDO: So it describes the part of the process
that I've been working on.
But at the same time how, to surround us,
we just go through my artwork.
That's what I'm trying to describe.
And it goes through [INAUDIBLE] talking
this way about the spaces in between the Inland Empire
and Southern California.
And what is all this--
focusing on certain animals, for example.
And sometimes you can find, in my artwork, raccoons.
You will find crows.
And that's the kind of animals that felt like they're always
like in conflict with--
what could be a place more settled.
A place that's always looking for some kind
of cleaning aspect.
So more square aspects of their lives.
More like a routine.
Sometimes I do not feel like too much is reflected on that.
And always I would like to have those elements in my work.
Because it would just create this confrontation between what
could be a nice image or pattern.
And you will see in all those elements
that were portrayed in the video.
Elements from the palm trees or the leaves.
That's always what I'm looking for in making art-- in my work.
But we can go to the next slide, please.
Behind it you will see the elements of the Cucamonga Peak,
or what is called the San Gabriel Mountains.
We can just keep going, please.
In those elements on the opposite wall
is a bee, which is a pollinator.
And it was supposed to--
I was supposed to be adding it on the opposite wall
in a dimension that's smaller than that.
But since it was the opposite wall, and it's more landscape--
it's really white, --the bee worked perfect,
because it's one of the main elements that makes possible
all this pollination process.
For example, [INAUDIBLE] any other fruits,
anything like [INAUDIBLE] to contain
all the populations of insects.
And in this picture you don't see,
but there's some other elements--
an orange, some strawberries.
But it's still because of [INAUDIBLE] were no pictures.
But we can go through the next slide.
And like I was saying, with the same element,
of having the two children being in the ground-- being
in the mural, it's the same way that I still like
working with those elements.
Having children at the tails they're surrounded by nature.
Having elements in their masks.
And those masks have elements from animals they are--
they have [INAUDIBLE] basically about pollination.
Or like they're just guarding the forest.
For example, this one is just--
in the mask there's elements from a jaguar.
And there's some elements from the bat.
And right now it's something that I've been doing mostly.
I just go for walks and do it like paste ups.
Paste ups in trees.
And they don't actually damage the trees.
They're just paper.
They'll fall, and will disintegrate.
Some others, I do on the walls, but we can just keep going.
It's the same weight.
About having this grounding of yourself.
So the other element is about Oaxacacalifornia.
The mural that's by the Wignall.
It's in the lobby.
So for example, I do choose to call it Oaxacacalifornia
because it was the way for me to relate to when I just
arrived in Riverside.
There was an anthropology professor at UCR.
And he did a research report about Oaxacalifornia
he called it.
It was the migration from Oaxaca to Riverside, California.
And how workers would come to work and to do the farm
work in the orange fields.
I did like this project because it was to bring elements
from ambiguity.
You will see a mask between life and death.
And this is something that is really
common in the [INAUDIBLE] or Southern California.
This hidden enormous trucks.
On the right hand side, you will see this part of the codices
where there was a period which was one of the first battles
after the Spaniards came to this land.
I can talk more about it on the next slide,
there are some details.
And this was the first proposal that I had for the mural.
It was having this wire and having this element.
Sometimes it's being like-- talking for like--
ways to come across the border.
Sometimes for me it's a little bit like--
I have to have second thoughts about it.
Because it's telling a story about immigration.
And it's a story they--
I hear about it.
I have a way that I can talk about it.
But it's not mine, you know?
In that, sometimes, I want to be respectful
because I don't want anybody talking about those elements.
Because they're actually not mine.
It's not my story how I immigrated to this country.
I can just be so close but I just
don't want to be portraying my artwork in that sense,
you know?
And feel like I'm actually capitalizing on that.
And sometimes I have second thoughts.
It's probably just on myself.
We always have second thoughts.
I have to really be careful about what I'm putting there.
So it was one of the elements that was happening.
I was reviewing with Rebecca every time.
So we can just go through to the next elements of the mural.
And this one is the same.
The reason why I choose her-- my daughter,
again, is because of the way they live.
She's growing up between two cultures, you know?
And it's same way that many of these students
will see themselves probably in the past, and the present.
Probably will see themselves in the future.
How you're always in these two areas, you know?
You can be like-- and how many backgrounds [INAUDIBLE]
yourself.
You're always going to be in this, too.
Always open this like--
talks about being in this place that, to me sometimes, is
a third way-- a third land.
A way that you can explore more identities.
And question the identities.
For you to not get lost, you know?
So we can go to the next slide.
For example, I choose elements for--
like the 905, which is the freeway
that comes right from the boarder at Tijuana,
and comes all the way to Southern California.
And I create like different clips from [INAUDIBLE]..
You will see the Lincoln, which is like the movement.
And this element is on the mural as a stencil.
We can just go to the next slide.
For example, I used--
the element that you will see there comes from a carving
that I did before.
Having the elements of a state-- the hats.
Which is like Southern California, with the trucks.
And a face that's almost falling apart.
It's just talking about [INAUDIBLE]
or keeping their identity.
Or digging into their identity, but just to not get lost,
you know?
Getting lost is a good thing too.
In there's elements from the--
and glyphs from the Oaxaca, which is [SPEAKING SPANISH]
which just means from the--
a plant that grows from the the nose.
You will see on your left.
I used the same elements from my drawing
in the pursuit of that child.
It was too-- it was going to be one
of the options for the mural.
We can go to the next one, please.
And I did create an element that is in the mural, too.
This is a way--
based on other elements from the pre-Hispanic glyphs.
So this is like-- to me, would represent
like Riverside [INAUDIBLE] you had the [INAUDIBLE],,
which is a landmark.
I've always felt really attracted to landmarks
and how we, ourselves could be a landmark.
So just change the cross for a movement.
This is for the fork roads and the pre-Hispanic codic.
You will see a lot of that.
In just the palace and the [INAUDIBLE] hill,
and the water coming out of that.
On the right hand you will see the way
how a hill will say respect the petal.
And the chapuline, which is a grasshopper,
and the [SPEAKING SPANISH] which is like a [INAUDIBLE] I used
that one a reference to create my--
You can go to the next one.
And this is the portrait of herself,
is just like at the petal, a mountain,
water coming from that.
It's talking about life, creativity, [INAUDIBLE] future.
And always several sources of creativity.
Like a child it will never stop.
We'll all just grow up, you know?
Like a river always has a way to keep going.
We can get the next one.
This is more like elements from the mural.
The same symbol of the [SPEAKING SPANISH]
is right on top of their head.
You will see the 905.
You can go to the next one.
And there you will see the same portrait.
And on top is chapuline, the grasshopper,
which is a really meaningful way to refer to Oaxaca.
And also the bakers.
Because this place is the land for [INAUDIBLE] food.
And you will see historically how many
brands would appear from here.
And how the many--
it's a resource for working people.
So it's always-- to me, it has to have this hybrid moment.
And the part where the portrait is, which you see in the print,
is how we see folks always wearing hats.
Always so Southern Californian.
It's always telling where you're coming from
and what you support.
And parts of the elements from this
are war that happened after the Spaniards came.
The Guerra del Mixton, which is the Mixton War.
And there are elements you will see that say sol--
S-O-L --which is sun.
Which talks about when one of the--
Pedro Alvarado, who was called Tonatiuh.
He was one of the main captains close to Hernan Cortes,
who died in that war.
It was one of the biggest wars that
happened after Tenochtitlan was surrounded.
So Tonatiuh died in us.
Pedro del Alvarado was called Tonatiuh because he was blonde.
Natives used to call him Tonatiuh because he
was as blonde as the sun.
Tonatiuh means sun.
So he's-- it's [SPEAKING SPANISH] when he
died.
And on the saints--
on the other side, you will see one of the warriors
from the [SPEAKING SPANISH] got baptized.
And to me, it was really important
because I learned how there's always a way for culture
to find--
to be resilient, to come through all their symbols,
to keep going.
Or like identity.
And that's the way they will repeat.
You will see in different artworks that were done before.
In some ways they try to communicate a powerful culture
that was repressed.
And we saw it keep going and going.
So this, to me, was like-- this main feature was between
a surrender-- but between to the death of--
the killing of a conquistador which was like--
many of them were rural people.
There's probably another one, so maybe we'll--
Yeah, just talking like it's a resume.
Like all this mural work with [INAUDIBLE]
that I've been working and doing more research on.
And those works, they just came up
after working with the murals at Chaffey College.
We can go to the next one.
That was after having those works at the Chaffey College,
it was open to hop on any other works with [INAUDIBLE]
residency that I did.
And it was exploring more like the wood with the mural
with the printmaking and the aesthetic.
Yeah, just make it more wild, you know?
Like explosions, to me.
You can just get-- go on.
That was before the mural ended, I need room.
That was my first color in a mural.
So going to the dining room was more
like filling something that was closer than I want to explore.
We can go to the next ones.
that was the process of the same one.
That's in [INAUDIBLE] University.
I guess we'll be at the end of this presentation, probably--
Oh no, it's still like-- there's the bats.
That's something that I've been doing, like I said before.
I've been going for walks, inducing
the same weight of paste up.
And having a different answer from your artwork,
yourself too.
Looking around.
Right now just in the morning I walk because I had more--
a vehicle right now.
So it's easier for me to do it.
Yeah everything changes.
So sometimes it's a way to keep going, you know?
Whatever you have to be doing.
Especially in these times.
Exploring them that way, you know?
You definitely will find something
and question all their formats.
To look-- to display work.
We can go to the next ones.
This is one of the last works that I've been doing.
Just talking about the maps and the relationship
with the landmarks.
The relationship of what's around it.
And the representation in this, which is the turtle.
Which is the ancient animal.
And this connection with Earth.
And how a child or an ambiguous character will grow from it.
And we'll know from what's [INAUDIBLE] to [INAUDIBLE]..
It comes from tales that I was told by my grandfather.
There's one that we can just close--
Yeah, we can close with this one.
Which is like the same--
[INAUDIBLE] cuts that I have been just pasting
around the Inland Empire.
Yes.
I guess we're fine.
Yes, please, if there's any questions
or comment about this?
REBECCA TRAWICK: Right thank you, Pavel.
It's such an honor to hear about your process and your practice.
So we appreciate your generosity today.
So yeah, I'm going to kick it off to Andy.
He has some questions, I believe, from the chat
which he'll ask you.
And then of course please ask any additional questions
that you all have in the audience.
OK?
ANDY HAGLE: Right.
Yeah, if you do have--
if you'd like to ask a question too
you can just put your hand up.
Or just unmute yourself and ask as well.
I don't know how much time we have, unfortunately.
I know that we have a lot of questions.
It was great to see your process.
PAVEL ACEVEDO: Thank you.
ANDREW HAGLE: Yeah I know that you're probably
going to have a lot of students viewing this at some point.
So I think maybe one question I would like to ask is just,
do you have any advice for young creative minds?
Students that are just about to graduate or those that
are about to enter the workforce.
PAVEL ACEVEDO: Well just look for the--
look for open minds like yourself, you know?
Look for the folks that are really into--
find those creative outlets.
They always have this way for you
to grow and build those connections
based on creativity.
That's the main-- that's really valuable.
Because you invest time in it.
And you actually grow from that.
You have to grow yourself enough to like--
and while you're growing, you have to spread it too.
So that's really important for when you're going out.
If you dig-- the great thing whenever you're at school is
you do--
you have to speak as much as you have to speak.
And you have to do as much as you have to do.
Because we always have the behave--
when you say, oh I used to look in the back.
And everything that I did was horrible.
You know?
And I think if you're at school, you can do as much as you can.
So with that you have enough support to see what
you don't want to do.
What you want to keep exploring.
And what you want to change.
And just get a little bit lost.
Loosed and lost at the same time.
To not be afraid about your artwork, you know?
So that's something that you don't have to be afraid of.
You can be afraid about other stuff,
but not when you're going through a creativity process.
Because that's like meeting yourself.
ANDREW HAGLE: I might ask another question too,
just going back a little bit more into your process.
You definitely talked about how printmaking
influences your mural work.
But I feel like also the printmaking
is such a huge part, maybe even more the foundation,
to your practice it seems.
Can you talk maybe a little bit about your education
in printmaking?
Or how you got started.
[INAUDIBLE]
PAVEL ACEVEDO: Yeah, I did start printmaking--
I started working on lithograph at a studio in Oaxaca school
like [SPEAKING SPANISH].
I started doing lithography.
I did like to draw before that.
But I didn't have much knowledge of painting.
So lithography opened that door.
And I didn't like it because it's
like a lot of like physical work.
And there are parts you have to be--
I mean, not everything in your artwork is how I feel.
Doesn't matter in the technique, I just
need to explore my spirit.
It's OK, but you have to have a weight to go into it.
You know?
So with that comes your craft.
So I did get into printmaking because
of that, the lithography.
But later I was doing more painting.
Acrylic oil painting.
I spent a lot of time doing painting.
I did have like relief printmaking
with my professor whose name is [SPEAKING SPANISH]..
But mostly, I did it through friends.
A lot of that was hanging out.
Everybody that was working with that or like--
even just hanging out was just like working.
It was just a normal thing to do, you know?
Just hanging out in a bar and just working.
Talking about how you're going to achieve a project.
So I didn't expect to be able to focus
my work on prolif printmaking like I do right now.
Until I move here and I was doing large drawings.
There were-- did a lot of larger scale drawings and charcoal.
And later I just landed on printmaking.
And I just thought--
I just think about myself and I thought about my surroundings.
And what I was going for.
I was like, it just happened to be.
If I was 12 years of a school and somebody
told me, are you going to be doing a lot of printmaking,
I wouldn't be a [INAUDIBLE].
That's not possible, I don't like it.
I don't like it, like I said, do like printmaking.
But it's just-- you have to be open, you know?
You're not married with the technique
but-- mostly I do it now, I guess.
But yeah, it's great.
You meet a lot of people.
Printmakers are generous and always the weight of sharing.
That's what I like the most.
Have many life after just being at the studio.
REBECCA TRAWICK: Right.
So it looks like we're nearing the end of our time together.
So I have one final question I'd like to ask you Pavel.
Is there anything that you are reading, looking at, watching,
listening to, et cetera, that you'd like
to recommend to the audience?
And/or is there an artist or group
of artists whose work you'd like to amplify?
PAVEL ACEVEDO: OK I would like to amplify--
there's this peacemaker artist his name is David--
forgot his last name.
Let me see.
His name is David--
sorry.
You know there's another group a school.
Desert Triangle?
Desert Triangle Carpeta.
They have a Blogspot, they have an Instagram.
But you can go through--
find it on Google and you will find the resources.
It's a way they go with different printmakers
from around the United States and Mexico, too.
That's a good way that you can-- it's like--
it will be like a directory for yourself.
So you can just click and find a printmaker that you like.
And that's one way that I can sell--
I don't have one name right now.
And another one will be--
for example, I was doing a residency at Kala.
There are many printmakers that go there from around the world.
And they all have different ways to approach printmaking.
Which is really great.
There's not just one way.
When you go there as an artist, you experience a lot.
So that's great.
Sulphur Graphics it's another way
that you can find many printmakers and artists that
work with community.
So I would say those are the printmakers you can [INAUDIBLE]
we'll like to highlight right now.
REBECCA TRAWICK: And how about music?
And know you like to post music.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
PAVEL ACEVEDO: Yeah there's a label called Ethospine--
Ethospine Noise.
It's a label from the Inland Empire.
They're a lot of punk activism folks that were there.
A lot of them used to like [INAUDIBLE] about the--
around this collect call blood orange [INAUDIBLE]..
So it's a really DIY group.
Ethospine Noise.
There's a book that I'm reading.
It's called, "How to Disappear.
Notes on Invisibility in this Time of Transparency."
It talks about all the social media.
It's good.
It's the way--
I found out myself like--
taking a walk.
And the author is Akiko Busch.
B-U-S-C-H.
And their separate there's going to be coming in
for-- it was stopped this year, but it's
going to come next year.
A band from Oakland.
They did work with another label, a DIY label
from Philadelphia, which is called Get Better Records.
Get Better Records is a label DIY.
They work with a lot of queer folks.
And they've been doing a lot of work
right now with the community, highlighting
a lot of musicians.
[INAUDIBLE] folks too.
So by next year, the album will be out.
That's another wait-- and they're small outlets that--
they're not in the same state, but they have a connection.
To here.
REBECCA TRAWICK: Thank you.
Well Roman's going to close us out here in a moment.
But two things.
First, again Pavel thank you so much.
Our gratitude to you for spending some time with us
today.
We really appreciate it.
And number two, I just want to point out
to anybody who didn't already see it in the chat.
The murals that Pavel created, that
are located on the campus of Chaffey College,
will be available for all of you to see anytime,
once the campus is open to the general public.
The first two are located in the dining commons,
in the center of campus.
And the other is located in the Center
for the Arts, or CAA, building on the second floor.
So if you haven't seen them in person, in real life yet,
once things return to a more normal--
please come back and visit us and visit those murals.
PAVEL ACEVEDO: Yeah.
Thank you Chaffey College community, Rebecca,
they've always been a big supporter.
And a way for me to keep growing creatively.
So I really appreciate it.
It's really important to support many events that you guys have.
Thank you.
REBECCA TRAWICK: Thank you.
I'll pass it off to Roman here, who will close us out.
And thanks, everybody for attending.
ROMAN STOLLENWERK: We also ask that you
complete a quick online survey.
Very brief.
That will help us evaluate our online programming
and our plans for future programs.
And that's the tiny URL that should be on the screen there.
It's tinyurl.com/wignallfall20.
If you'd like to learn more about Native land
acknowledgment, there are two websites
on the screen that have more information.
And other than that, thank you very
much for your participation.
[MUSIC PLAYING]