CHema Skandal! Interviews & Collaborates with Magazine TM
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Magazine TM Interview with CHema Skandal!
July 17, 2025
Hello, everyone. Thank you for having me. My name is Chema. I go by Chema Skandal. I'm a graphic artist, visual, multi-disciplinary artist. I am mainly working in print media, but also painting lately and exploring 3D and sculptural work. I am originally from Mexico City with a neighbor country, Mexico, but I've been living here in Chicago for more than 13 years now. And I just graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, MFA program Print Media.
The most random place and situation I've seen in my work in or at, I would say, is a bus stop, and that was through, of course, a corporate work, a graphic work for a multi national beer company. Well, of course, that was planned. The other very random space I've seen my work at is in a bar, another alcoholic related environment, but in this case was a reappropriation of a sticker I did years ago and I found it in Puebla in Mexico, which is two hours out of Mexico City. But they took a graphic of a mask I did originally as a relief print and they reappropriated it. They turned it into a sticker, and they put another slogan. No, that's the weird and random part of it right. They just took it. Yeah. I found throughout the years a couple graphics like that that people just use it. And sometimes I give permission or I put them for free on my website and they go and find it. But in this case, people just took them and made them. I think that's the power of the printed graphic, the visual. When they reach a larger audience, people feel they resonate with them. Yeah. And they can use them in another context. But no, I really like that, for me that's the power of print and also it's how images live through even when the author is not around anymore. That was Miller light. Not the best beer for my taste buds. Exactly. Yeah, it was a big campaign.
Well, the story is, I was also going to study as a musician. Because I like music, my work is very highly influenced by music. But back in the day, I was organizing some concerts and part of it was to do the flyer or do promotional stuff for it. But I also happened to own a very obscure, very underground record label. Since I was living in Mexico City. It started around 2002, 2003. And I put out some records for a very specific music genre. I was playing in a couple dance and I had musician friends. So it was like a natural evolution to do the artwork and the labels and the promotional posters for them. So yeah, I've been involved in that part of an industry if you want. But through some musician friends or gigs or festivals I have attended before. They learned about my stuff, my work, my practice and my ethos, I would say. So they invited me to, you know, collaborate with the bands or the artists. And sometimes these days I am commissioned by the bands or other musicians to do the work. One of the first ones is a friend who is originally Canadian and he lives in the Los Angeles area. And by the way, he's performing in Mexico City this weekend and I guess. But his name is Chris Murray and he used to play in a band called King Apparatus in Canada. But he has been in the States for a while. So we organized a gig, me and my friend, and we flew him out to Mexico City. It was one of the first acoustic performances and that's because it was affordable. He's the one man, one band ska, one man ska band. So he's yeah, he plays everything. He plays the harmonica, the guitar. He also is a composer and it was the most affordable act to bring over. So that was probably one of the first ones. And then from then on, I started collaborating with other musicians from all around and yeah, I collaborated with people from the Czech Republic, from Tokyo and Japan, and Toulouse in France. Others in the UK or even in Jamaica or here in the US.
I mean, lately I've been thinking about that. My practice is very community oriented. And believe it or not, for some time I tried to or I don't know, I rejected it or I tried to explore another route for my work. But it's something that comes naturally to me. As you said, making a record, for example, you have to, first at all, it was 2002, 2003, and there were not a lot of record prices. At that time, vinyl records were kind of out because everybody was using CDs, probably but also, it was the beginning of digital music. Yeah. So in specific the music, I was listening to and also the format that music was in, which was the original all-timey format, which is records, vinyl record, and I was looking for the company that was still pressing this kind of material in Mexico. And there was only one lady doing it at the time. So, yeah. I mean, just looking for that. Learning how the record's going to be made and also the different formats or the specifics I needed to get her an audio file in order to be pressed into a record. It taught me a lot. Yeah. So I really enjoyed those processes and yeah. To this day, I find myself learning about new tools or new materials or art supplies in this case. But I would extend it to almost everything. So yeah, I like learning about others, other practices and also when the time comes, if there's a like a possibility of working together and most of the time I'm open to it. So. Yeah. That's part of it.
I guess so, because as an artist, of course, you spend a lot of time by yourself. But also, you get all these ideas that you are like the quintessential creative and you are unique and your work is. Of course it is, but it's not more important than others. And I think I was just trying to find myself. Which is something I do all the time. But I guess I was younger and I wanted to. I don't know. Be bribed by myself. Yeah. But like in the end it’s something that really comes natural to me. Working together with others. Yeah. And it's something that really satisfies and I guess my practice. And so. Yeah, I guess I stopped fighting it. Yeah. But you're right, you always need a break. Rethink stuff. I don't know. I think that's a part of an artist that always is there. Right now I’m drawing just a growing plant. Yeah. Like something that really amazes me is nature. And I also studied a year of biology. Because my family is from the sciences. All related. My mom is a botanist. So I have the influence. I don't know, just thinking about how human beings can build - a there's a phrase. I don't know who said it, but it’s “humans can build the biggest bomb. But they cannot even build the tiniest flower.” Yeah. So lately I've been letting myself be surprised by insects, by the small fungi and flowers that grow like all around. When there's heat and humidity, you see all the life flourishing all around us. And also composting and being exposed to this urban farm that, yeah, it's really nice to see how everything's alive here, around us.
Yeah. I was thinking about that with cicadas this last week that they just came out and they were singing super loud and why they weren't around like 12 weeks before. So just like their natural clock just starts and they come out of the underground and the cycle continues. And that would be the same with how, I mean, nature works, of course, but also with human life. As bad as it is in those times, I mean, people will survive and they struggle, we have seen a lot of examples and people all around they keep going. Even if it's for surviving or to keep doing art or, you know. So I think that's important and also I have allowed myself to be surprised by it. Inspired, why not? Yeah. But yeah, I want to actually start a comic about how species survive and we are probably the only ones that take very seriously the way we try to annihilate them. And so in some cases, we do. Sadly. Yeah... Oh, yeah, flies. Yeah, they're important. Yeah. But sometimes we see them also intruders. Most of the time, we are the intruders. Yeah. We people. But yeah, it was reading about Dodo, the dodo bird. Yeah, yeah. And what's the name of this I guess it's a Rodrigues solitaire. It was a non flying, another bird, it was a dove, like a pigeon, and how it was annihilated by humans because they went to this island and they couldn't fly away. So people exterminated them. And I was just thinking about how many species that we don't know. They have disappeared because of human input. But many of them are still here. They can actually, I mean, they've been around, they resist the impact of human life? Or they adapt? You know. Here in Chicago, you see a lot of that.
Well, when I got to Chicago, the then American Poster Institute, the API was involved with pitch and festival, through Flatstock. Flatstock is a printmaking, prints oriented market that was working with different festivals around the country. And they were organizing a small market during the music festival. At the time, and when I first came to Chicago to visit, I guess I was invited to be part of it. And I didn't have that many gig posters or concert posters, but I somehow brought some of the ones I made in Mexico and then I screen printed a couple here. And, well, this is 2025 and it is the first year we don't have Pitchfork because it was sold to a large corporation that didn't see independent music as a business model, I guess. But it also affected this year, the printmaking community.
How I usually approach gig posters or how I conceptualize it. Mainly is, well I'm interested in the band or either the musicians or the band knows me or we are friends and we talk about that in advance. But when I reach out and it's because I like the artist or the music or what they are saying. But also I try to focus on one of their lyrics that resonates with me. Or probably something that is going on. Like in public life or current events. So, yeah, I usually try to translate the part of the creation or the creativity into a visual way.. That's it. I think my work wouldn't fit with all kinds of music, but sometimes I think it gets much more clearly related to some bands or some musicians. So it comes naturally I would say.
Yeah, I think it's important to listen carefully to what the band or musician is saying. And then try to isolate a concept. Sometimes, again, it's just a song or they usually have a hit that’s well known. Even if it's a small community or a very specific music genre. Their followers, they know what attracts from these artists. So I think well, that would be hard for them of doing in this case, a poster. But also what I've been lately thinking about is the experience of the person that is attending an event. And people see a gig poster also as a souvenir. And it's something that brings them back to that specific moment they were attending that show. So I just did one last week for a band that was touring and they played in Thalia Hall.. And I noticed that people really wanted to get the print as a reminder of that specific night. So it's like Chicago Summer 2025. What is going on? And usually my, in that case, my work is to make a visual reminder. But also with a band and their lyrics. It's a mixture. And I think that's a powerful thing because people really, I mean, I've run into people that tell me like, hey, I got this print years ago and I love that specific show because they have a story. And of course, I'm not into that story, but they see my work as a reminder of that. Sometimes they meet significant one or, I don't know, it was a crazy night, they were drunk or something, but I think that's worth it for the human experience.
Well, this was a very festive band from Mexico City.. People went there, mainly to dance. But of course, I mean, times here are a little tough. And I guess here means the whole planet, but I didn't want to get into a dark space for people, so I took a couple of their lyrics, which is a dancing guy and I also incorporated a couple elements there, which one was how people that are growing our food in this case, people that plant the crops that we feed with. Some of them are being menaced, by I don't know, about the administration, or by some dark political forces and then I just put them like a work in a field, but also like a decorated truck with some slogans there, but it was like festive, part of the poster. I can send you a picture of the poster but also. I mean, the main guy was a character using a hoodie, which looks like the, how do you call the dead? the reap? The Grim Reaper... So it's a Grim Reaper, but it is also like dancing. And in my case, I don't see the Grim Reaper or even devils or sort of like what we would consider negative or bad guys, I try to incorporate them as a mainly as positive or a good elements or of any kind because at the end is just another way of, I don't know, is it. Human. Human imagination, you know? So yeah, I put those. And of course, the colors I riso-printed it, so it was like yeah, it was orange florescent floris and orange, fluriscent, bread.
Yeah, yeah, it was just technical stuff. The American Poster Institute, which is an organization that was during the Flatstock event, which is the poster show at the Pitchfork. They now go by the Poster Institute. So PI. They used to be API, but I guess they were going international, but... Yeah. Just technical.
Yeah, it depends. And also depends on what the artist wants. But that's mainly when it's a commission project. If they just want to poster and do you have the freedom to choose a method? Well, I try to combine it. I usually like screen printing for gig posters. But you could also. Well, it all depends, but I usually draw everything by hand and then I separate colors in the computer. It depends. And then screen print it. Yeah, but for record covers, it's different because you have to plan much more. Well, depending on the project again, but usually if the artist is interested in one piece, which is how I'm usually approach approached it's like they send me or they have sent my work previously or they have a like an idea of what it could be what they're looking for, but with a some example of what they've seen previously. So, yeah, it's basically. Like having a catalogue of the work and then presenting them as a different alternative, if you know what I mean, like a different proposal, but sometimes. I mean, I've been lucky to work with people that are open-minded. And sometimes they don't know all the technical specifications, but they like the result. So sometimes, I mean, you can also work digitally. These days, that's a tool and I mean, I'm not talking about artificial intelligence, but using a tablet and of course, the computer, which is another tool, you know? And even AI anything, but I haven't experimented that I'm not that interested at the moment, but I guess there's another tool. So yeah, it varies. How you're commissioned for a project like that. But if you ask me what I enjoy the most, it would be drawing my hand, everything, would you see it's like inked, then scanning it and then screen printing it. Because then you have the freedom of choosing different colors, doing gradients, rainbow rolls or split fountain. And then on the other side, you have the wood block. I would love to make posters just relief print, but it’s time consuming. Yeah. I mean, carving it probably one of my favorite techniques, but the time. And I like details, you know. Even if it's not perfect and if it looks like dirty, I really like the details of relief printing, of the matrix.
Usually. Well, right now, I don't have a studio, but I was using a friend's print shop and during the school well, using the facilities. I mean, for larger, large-size screens, I can do 19 by 24. And then I have a small set up in the basement and then I can print it one of my rooms that are like studio right now. But yeah, ideally I have a someone helping me print larger scale.
I don't know. I'm not sure if I can pick one. Yeah. I usually try to think- my favorite piece is the next one I'm working on. Because I try to get better if you want. But not only just talking about a technical side of it. Sometimes it's also nice to have fun. And, of course, to experiment gives you permission to do something else that you usually don't. And the other would be. Sometimes you need as a visual artist, just not getting bored. Because when you find a recipe that is good for clients or even for the art world. I'm one of those people where I don't want to get stuck. But. Earlier, you mentioned something about the style. And I think that's something you can adapt. So even if you are doing a poster for a classical music concert or heavy metal band, I think you try to adapt your style to it. Sometimes, it doesn't work. As you wanted it to, but that's probably the challenge. Just trying to make it work.
I would do that more in a personal way. Like for my own practice. I like experimenting more. I was just... talking a couple days ago to a friend that they want me to make a bookmark. And they mentioned why don't we letterpress it? And I haven't done that in a while. Actually, I have never printed letterpress by myself. So I know how it works. I know what it entitles, but I, yeah, and I don't have access to a press. So my friend owns one. He just moved into town. And he's like, why don't we print it like that? And that's another thing. I mean, where the times we're living are, you can take advantage of different approaches and then just go with it. We don't have to, for a letterpress, you don't have to get the metal plate or in this case, the type, sorry. It's like a plexiglass, plate, and then go from there. So yeah, that's what I think we're going to do. It's also important to keep in mind that materials are here to serve us because you can stick with the very traditional and all techniques, but sometimes you have to play with it. It's good. They were invented for a reason, right? And I love, for example, stone lithography. But it's time consuming. I would probably leave that for a very special project. But, yeah, if you need a gig poster for the next month, you'd rather use a metal plate.
Yeah. Not at all. I'm actually, I think I would enjoy or I would take like a favorite piece on the most independent side of my work, even like photocopied zines. Yeah, I don't know. Probably in on that same page.
Oh, this one, yeah Well, this piece was done in 2022 as a public print making workshop. It was the summer of 2022, three years ago. Which was also the centennial of Carlos Cortez. Carlos Cortez was printmaker, poet, and most important workers rights activist, who was linked to the international workers of the world. Born in Wisconsin, born in Wisconsin from a Mexican father and German mother. He came to Chicago where he started his career. Well, his career, and his life, happened, the most important part of his life. He did this piece called La Lucha Continua, like a mid-size print. But this is a tribute to him and I did it while I added other characters there. That part means the struggle is on. And that's why I put the translation. But also I thought about it as a not only social justice and the events that are we're going on at the time, right after the pandemic with all the police brutality going around, but also thinking about, well, the same, we were talking previously, the people, the feed us, the people that are in the fields. And also, I try t make a diverse group of people here, and not just people because you can find those fantastic characters that are also part of our culture, in my case, the skeletons, the skulls, which is a big, big influence, of course, from Jose Guadalupe Posada as a printmaker and also well, I would say's the most important Mexican artist. That is very well now that he's not among us but also the main topic he was talking about, which is the ephemeric existence of all as humans. So yeah, I include that. And also this Diablo here, which is a devil and well, that's another idea of what I included. Mainly in our cultures, our Western culture, the devils are like not good elements, right? But in this case, he's on the side of people because at the end, well, it's a little bit talking about Catholicism and religion. But also. I don't know. It's like a diverse group. There's almost like a cartoon. This guy here. Sometimes you cannot tell if there are women or men. So it could be androgynous, but also.. Yeah, they have different lectures. And the same happens with the sky, which you don't know if it's nighttime, but you can also see the space. And I usually incorporate that element of this cosmic body, which is Saturn, a planet. But for me, that means the mystery. I mean, it's a beautiful, beautiful, visually, very attractive celestial body, you know, like a planet with these discs. But how it exists out there I mean, besides if you're not going out with your telescope. I usually use my work as the mystery and the mystery of life. Going back a little bit to what we were talking about previously, nature and insects and.. Do you have a brush? The stuff we don't usually understand. But it's yeah, like the mystery of life, I would say. How we got here, how we are born and how we are conceived. Yeah, too many questions, but I think we should remember. I think when we are little kids, we think about all this stuff, but little by little we forget. And sometimes just allowing yourself to be surprised, right? So that's part of it. That's why I incorporate those elements. And you can see different stars and some are very graphic. Some are like what old sailors used to put on their maps. So it's a little bit of history, I would say, as well. The history of the peasant struggle. I mean, right now we have people in Ukraine trying to continue with their lives planting barley, wheat, but the same happens in Palestine. They're planting olive trees. Some other people are burning them down in California. So it's like a cycle, but it's human nature to look to support each other and also to continue their own struggle. I think life, I mean, at the end, life is that, right? Like daily struggle, even in biology. That is part of what we do as living creatures.
I think that's something I wanted to have here under specific piece. And also, again, it's I’ll send it to you, the image of Carlos Cortez. Yeah, I think it resonates. I'm a member Instituto Grafico, Chicago, which is Latin American print-making collective here. We organize Grabadolandia, which is a free three day event in November. And there was just the excuse to pay homage to Carlos. But this piece, in particular, you can find it at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen. So anytime you want to see the original block is there. His block, which, again, is not that big. Yeah, I still have to work on this edition. Because we just printed some few ones for a couple of shows here in Wisconsin and California.
Oh, wow. That's an old one. Okay, that one is a mural I did for the Mairie de Toulouse, which is the art and cultural bureau of the city of Toulouse in the south of France. Mhm. Uh that's funny. That's probably the largest mural I have painted so far.
It was displayed for a music festival. Uh imagine it's like their Millennium Park. Of Tulus. And it's right beside the river bank of Garrone which is the river there and they well that was part of our residency 2011 and I think to this day is the largest mural I painted. It's funny because the Mexican government at the time had an issue with the French government. So they decided to fly in Mexican artists, but Mexican artists that were not living in Mexico. So uh yeah, they picked me. Yeah, there was a very bad and very stupid misunderstanding between the two governments. Okay. And uh they decided to do that. Yeah. And I mean all the time. And the problem with that is, I mean I was glad they picked me and they flew me and they kept me for almost a month there. To create it and then we flew back during the summer for the actual show. I remember they brought Los Lobos from California. So they had every year a guest to the country and they decided to have me as the graphic artist. Uh it was a stage. So as you can see the bar and I think there's a person there. So you can see the scales. There's a guy riding a bike. So the bar and they were selling the beer there. Yeah, it was hand painted. Yeah, I could have done a digital thing, but at the time I mean it was also a challenge for me to create it, of course. But uh but no, the point was to paint by hand. And that was during the winter again because we were working at the Center Cultural Minville which is a outskirts of Toulouse and while I was painting in some big studio. Well the theme is a culture but with a contemporary twist. So what I was creating is this landscape of musicians and dancers with some luchadores, some of the Mexican iconography, wooden masks and also the history and how - well according to the legends - the beginning of Mexico happened right, which is the tribes walking around and looking for this very specific site. And whatever they find an eagle eating a snake standing on top of a cactus. They were supposed to found the city. And that's why we have that eagle on our flag. So yeah, I put that and it's in this case it's the skeleton, the grim reaper again. But it's um it has a tattoo. It's a luchador. Because it's like lucha means struggle, but it also translates to the sport wrestling. And also has to do with all the - yeah masks and all the wrestling around the visual very rich culture about the sport. The tattoo says “la invencible” which translates to the invincible one. That's because of course no one can defeat death. In this case that's taking the spot of the eagle and it has a record close to it and it's standing up on top of a cactus. So, I also incorporated the folkloric customs of some folkloric dancers in Mexico. Well, there's a couple of female characters. One is the revolutionary one with the hat and the other one is the dancer. So a little bit of juxtaposition of elements. Yeah, that was it. It was a lot of work. No, I started drawing and then just painting with that. I think it was acrylic paint. And the thing while at the time because it was probably the second mural I was working on. I just um I was just drawing and walking to see it from afar just to keep the perspective because I didn't project or anything. And the same would happen with. Well it’s a triptych. And we used the vinyl material. On the other side, they had printed some photographs for the previous festival. So if you see the other side there were some photographs I think from either a French or an African artist photographer. Okay. Yeah, but the previous edition. So, we were just reusing it for this one. So, that would be the 2010 festival. I can't remember what the photographs were about, but they were just recycling the banner. I remember they said it was expensive so they wanted to use it. And I totally, I agree with that using all the materials. That's something I've been trying to also incorporate in my practice. Trying to avoid as much as possible waste. And also recycling. It's always good to recycle. It doesn't have to be brand new. In this case, you were unable to see what was going on on the other side. There was just like the facade of the bar. People never saw the photographs that were in the back. But there are a couple pictures that they shot from where the live acts were happening, performances, and it's pretty impressive. Mainly during night time, they put up some lights and it looked nice. I think I have some pictures somewhere. But yeah, it was a good one.
Yeah, those two elements in the center, they were revolutionaries but no one in specific. I mean it was just again probably the just the people that really take part in a revolution. In this case a social revolution. The guy on the horse to the right of that lady you're talking about that's inspired by one of Jose Guadalupe Posada’s prints that is called Calavera Zapatista. Emiliano Zapata was a freedom fighter in Mexico who was a leader in the revolution of the 1910s. The girl next to it is just uh we call them Adelitas, which is the female revolutionaries, but it depicts regular people or of course the women that support not only in that case the struggle, but also their families. In Mexican culture, women are very important and culturally, historically. Yeah, that's why I incorporated her, but it's no one in specific. And also I put her on a blue skin because I didn't want to portray a specific race if you want. But yeah, somewhere there you can see an Afro-Mexican lady over there. Mhm. Yeah, I also put on some sports so you can find the boxer. See, and football player, soccer player, a guy reading a book. So, it was a mixture of elements they wanted me to have, like culturally and historically relevant for the Mexican Contemporary Society. If they would ask me to do it this 2025, I think it would change some elements and mainly the way I depict them. But the idea would be pretty similar. Well, I would probably make them much more accurate. Less cartoonish if you want. And probably yeah, mixing them a little bit more with current events. But you have the literature here, the graphic arts, the music, the dance, the sports, and in the middle there's a guy with a ski mask. So, this guy's wearing a bandana. And this was of course previous to the pandemic but it's the way the revolutionaries used to conceal themselves you know.
Like properly? When I came here. I mean I have a couple pictures from when I was still living in Mexico and I was already using a mask. Mainly a wrestler mask or a modified one or the ones I use now were made specifically for me by mask makers like professional mask makers but yeah I also like that of creating another persona and you have the opportunity to reinvent yourself through them. Because the mask has a very important power in many cultures and it could have different meanings. But I enjoy trying to recreate another CHema or another mood of myself, but also I like how visually it can work in different environments.
Yeah. And I really like masks. I have a lot of work depicting masks.
And of course, I love Halloween.
Well, I had my first mask I got here for the first Halloween. I think I was invited to I wore the black lagoon monster. I love that movie. Which is not properly - or I don't know if that fits into - terror but it's like the mystery of a creature out there living among us in nature and I love that idea of what we haven't discovered yet or the mystery again the mutations, possible mutations in the future I don't know.
Which is inspired by that. I like it. I saw that during the pandemic. Can't remember what year it came out.
What is your favorite movie from Guillermo? He does, but they're from the 80s. I think he has a new one coming up. He’s been doing that for years. I mean like horror. In Mexico back in the day and I'm talking about the 80s horror wasn't that big. Mainly on Open TV, but he was doing a series of horror like soap operas, but the theme was like the paranormal or something we're not used to in Mexico, you know, or back in the day, it wasn't popular. And he was doing that. So he has been doing it for a while and then he moved to California. Uh for a very tragic reason - which was his father was uh kidnapped. And then they asked for a ransom and anyway he went there. But he has been always exploring that side of human nature, the inexplicable, the paranormal, the horror, and the he actually has one of the few horror movies in Mexico from the 90s that is called Cronos and it deals with that and time and all that but uh it's important and then of course um well I don't know why he became very famous or with which one but he has been there for a while. Doing a lot of stuff and not only directing but also producing stuff. I don't know if the devil's backbone - is that his? But that's a good one. Or he produced. Yeah, and that was previous to Pan’s Labyrinth which I really like.
Pinocchio. I can't remember. But yeah, it's recent. It was more dark, but not as dark as Collodi, the original one, which is Italian. Yeah, because I think Pinocchio kills his dad on the original. I think on this one he only dies. But of course, Disney made it different. Much more sugarcoated. I think it's just a popular tale - I don't know, but it wasn't for kids. I would say probably PG-13. Because it deals with other stuff. I do think I remember hearing a quote where he was saying animation is not only for kids. And I was going to say that because he also I mean I don't know if he started with animation but he has done a lot and he also supports a lot of small or independent animation companies in Mexico and mainly in Guadalajara where he's from. But I really like his stuff and yeah. And I don't know him. I have friends that know him and I know that he supports a lot of the arts and other creatives. Yeah, we're progressing.
I met this guy that started making tools, carving tools at his small workshop. I haven't been in touch with him, but I invited him to come to Grabadolandia, the printmaking festival I was talking about previously. Because all his tools are one of a kind. And he repurposes mainly vehicle parts. And then he does the for example the shafts from other parts of a motor. He uses them to to make like wide knives. I visited his workshop. It was at his apartment. So he had a room where he was making the tools. He had a bunch of good ones. And, this one I was asking about we call it I don't know if it has a name in English but in Spanish we call it - the translation would be the brides uh how do you call the veil the veil of a bride. Bride's veil. Because it makes those parallel marks, you know, and you've seen those at Leopoldo Mendez or Jose Guadalupe Posada’s little very small linear work, they were mainly using either linoleum or in Posada's case it was zinc, a metal zinc plate. So I asked him to make me one and he agreed but it took him a couple of months just to get the right metal part and then he started doing it but yeah it's like a like customized tools and I wanted to come just for other artists to see the wide variety of stuff he was doing. But I haven't been in touch again. I might reach out.
Oh, and this one specifically. Yeah, I wanted a five and he said like, "Oh, let's start with a smaller one." Well, again, I've seen it and I was asking around, but it wasn't a knife. It was what's the name of it? The one they use for it's a buril. I don't know how you say it in English. The one you use for the flat wood that you are not carving. We are just pushing. Have you seen that? So, it's very like old timey. I'm going to find out what the name is, but um yeah, I was trying to emulate it because it's not a carving tool. So, they have like little rollers with little chisels on them. And that was just the idea. So he was trying to emulate that. Okay. But I like that he was not afraid of trying at least. Yeah. He was like, "Yeah, let's do it." And he took a couple months to just to find the metal part that he was going to use. But yeah, then it worked out well. And I again I just wanted to emulate that mark, right? Which brings me to you could probably do others I mean in the future or probably try to do the roulette I think they're called right those the ones that spin the roulette or something like that. And it's been a long time now. So yeah. And I haven't been into etching for a while. Yeah, like he was open. I think he trademarked his project and everything, but I'm going to reach out to him tonight.
Well, the Japanese knives that you can get at McClain’s really like. Sometimes they're a little hard to sharpen. Yeah, but you know, they offer that service, so you can send them back. And I think they send them all the way to Japan. So, it's like you're getting it sharpened by the manufacturers. But, uh, I haven't done that in a while. To be honest these days I sharpen with a belt. That works perfectly. I don't even use the sharpening stone. And also the carving tools are very expensive. Well, if you want a good quality one. But it's worth it Just totally worth it. It makes your life easier.
I was surprised by how interesting work you can create with clay. I never used it before the material and also I've had done very small amount of work with 3D and sculpting and well learning about mold making different techniques and mainly related to clay but also to plaster and actually metal too like bronze. I didn't take a class but I just learned a little bit and uh but clay is the thing that really got me into exploring that side. Um, and also the different ways to make a piece much more I would say - you can I mean it's not necessarily the size of it but how much detail you can add in ceramics. Would be all the glazes and finishes you can get, which of course is another world. And probably that's part of what really got me into it. Because it's a whole world.
In that case, I miss having access to a kiln and all that. But yeah, again, it's been just like more than a month that I lost access to it. So, I'm already looking for some studios where I can probably go and fire some stuff. No, it's incredible what you can do. I really like ceramics. Not necessarily the same but of course it can expand my universe. And to be honest - I would like to even go further than probably I mean I created some printed ceramic pieces. And you would be surprised how much these techniques can fit into each other. And also, well, the next step I was looking for, which I didn't have time to, would be to create like a stamp to later be used as a printmaking tool. But of course, you also have limitations with the materials. But in that case of printing ceramics, I mean that was very satisfying. Carving and then printing on clay. Yeah, it was nice. Have you done anything of that? Okay. That's something you could explore.
Did you go to Oxbow? That reminded me of the class they took. I was doing print print painting. It was called draw, print, paint. Yeah, I remember I was spending some time with the clay makers. Ceramicists. Also the fire when they fire outdoors like it's nice cuz they cannot control everything. You get different results. it's different but I like it. I would like to do much more and I might do something with some friends from school at an urban farm. We have access here in Humboldt Park. So we might have a saggar firing. If you're interested I can let you know. Oh, but that would happen probably in September. You can come back for that visit. When you're visiting.
Do you know what that is? The saggar firing. It's just uncontrolled fire in the outdoors. And they use like a pot. And then they put the small or I guess you could have a larger one, but you could your sculpted pieces or whatever you're going to fire inside that and then they put it in the fire. They also add like different flowers, baking soda, salt, and other chemicals or yeah mainly from nature that would affect the firing. Sometimes they take minutes or but so it's a nice combo. And we did it probably twice last semester, but that was just a club that the students started. It wasn't part of the syllabi or any class. But I also like that from the ceramicists that they are enthusiasts and they wanted to know more. So, most of them were very welcoming. So, I actually took that ceramic class for three semesters. At the end. So, yeah, I liked it.
That was a good mistake or a happy happy mistake. I guess there was a guest artist that came to do a lecture. And they had a workshop. But at the time I didn't know they also had this like small lectures in each department and a friend just told me like “hey this guy's going to be did you go to that lecture that happened on Tuesday?” I guess it was. And I really like his stuff. So he said like, "Hey, you know, we're having a workshop." But it was not announced it was just for the ceramics department. And I just got in and I was a little nosy, but yeah, it was nice. And yeah that's the very first time I started sculpting or playing with it you know. The artist was Cannupa Hanska Luger. It was a whistle making very brief workshop. And it was nice. And the one I did worked. He mentioned sometimes it doesn't. So it was like okay I think this would be interesting to play with. And a couple times in that semester I was just invited to go and use clay but the next semester I enrolled in that class and then I never left it. But yeah, it's very nice. Also one of my grad advisors was um it was the head of the department at the time. He invited me to “Hey, come and play with the clay. See if you like it.” And yeah, I love it. So he was actually my last uh professor of my last ceramic class and I told him that “you are the guilty one that got me into this”. Yeah, I really like the class. I mean, in general, the ceramic department was very cool.
Well, to begin with is the material you're using. I mean it's probably my and your ancestors what are their, it's the earth, it's the soil what you're using right and it's not like it has been in the last decade so it formed throughout a long period of time that is one - like when I'm saying your or my ancestors is mainly I don't know prehistoric uh creatures, right? But they've been here. And the other one is how at least what we discussed is how human beings started working with ceramics which was kind of by accident. Because they, well that's what they mentioned most of historians agree that the first clay or fire clay has been discovered next to the bonfires or the fire pits how they use the different types of ceramics just to start making tools because again art has always been functional. I think even when it was planned to live in a cave or you know it had a function. Mhm. Could be spiritual or religious or but it had one and the same with ceramics and of course with ceramics also it developed as a tool to probably work better with whatever they were cooking. And also to keep water fresh and yeah, all of it. Of course, we're not talking about properly decorative work. And then yeah going a little bit back to what I was mentioning about the error component of it which also goes I think hand in hand with the pigments they started adding to the ceramic or the clay that was fired. Oh, and that's because the oldest how do you say the oldest pieces of ceramics have been found next to it. They were just playing with mud and throwing it and they found out after it being fired it got another consistency and then right the rest is history. The same happens with the pigments of painters.
You know you're not going to believe it.
I've mainly done masks.
I started working with this project about creating 43 masks. That I almost completed. But I mean just as a project, right? And the body of work I wanted to create. But I really like the very old techniques which would be all the basic stuff you want. I don't know a lot about that. But I would probably like to use similar techniques with what they did in Mesopotamia or even the Greeks, I don't know. Which I think those kind of earthy pigments are part of. But yeah, I mean I would love to have another two years of ceramics exploration.
You're right. And that goes to I mean the prehispanic cultures in the whole Americas. I mean not to mention Peru or yeah I would like to go there. And of course the other part is textiles which I never did before the MFA and I really like the potential, the alternatives and also the I think you mentioned something very important: the history of the materials and how it has the role that has played with human culture. I would like to do that.
But they're related because it's all tool making and material domination. I would say trying to you know make stuff work. Pigments of course natural pigment pigments.
Yeah. Another part I really like this going back a little bit to the making of the art supplies or the art materials. I took this class about pigments. It was actually drawing materials and techniques. Oh yeah, I really like that.
And that's actually something I want to go further - the making of inks. Probably with I guess that has been tried before, or it has been explored but I don't know probably using like wild fruits or for example the cochineal which is a pigment that was very valuable when the Spanish went to Mexico. I don't know copper - yeah there are many ways to explore it.
Well, there was a project I had in 2,000 around 2,000 no 2022 I guess. In 2014, there were 43 students disappeared by the police in the Mexican army and they were all starting to be teachers. And up to this day, they were kidnapped and they haven't been - I mean, they don't know where they are. And it was more than 43 students because it's a long story, but it has to do with corruption. Uh the army corps and the police trying to rescue a heroine shipment that was coming to Chicago - or that was the final destination. Uh, so it was a confusion, misunderstanding. It also has to do with - I mentioned corruption because it had to do with the mayor of a small city in Guerrero where the plants are grown and all the process of heroin is completed. But what is crazy is how these events developed. It was the 20 Yeah. September 26, 2014 and at the end it was the 43 plus teacher students that were kidnapped. They, I mean those that disappeared but they killed some others. There was another bus of soccer players that were going through and they were shot by the police because they thought it was the students. It was night time and it was a crazy hunt that night. But for me it was of course a tribute to the 43 people that were involved that they just wanted to get a bus to go to a demonstration in Mexico City. But at the end is how easy it is to uh get rid of people and in some cases you never get justice. And I'm saying that because just thinking as individuals I know we all have a lot of flaws as humans but uh but I just wanted to depict and these are masks. These are pretty similar to characters like this. That they're not perfect and that they have dreams but also they have flaws I said I mentioned before and they have also fears. And the other thing would be how the power structures don't uh respect that - they just saw them as um - I don't know, people that were interfering with their business, you know. And the funny part is some journalists found out that shipment was coming here. So it's a long story. I haven't had the time to clearly write down but at the end it would be as a remembrance of those kids because they were mainly in their early 20s and how they got uh disappeared. There's something recurring that, you know, I wanted to make first I thought about doing the portraits of them.
I'm not the first one. There are comics about the - like graphic novels
But yeah, I think at least just as humans they deserved a memorial, you know. And it's crazy. It's crazy. They never - actually people from Switzerland came to test the DNA because they found some corpses but they're not sure it's them right and uh so this was 2014 and some of the parents they have passed away and they never saw justice they never found the bodies and like it's terrible situations. And uh so it was thought about bringing a little bit of humanity to that case. And of course there are too many around the world that go through similar or worse circumstances. But I think it's important to have a memory and for that reason I thought that it would be an important, an important project.
Yeah. I don't know. That's one of the main ideas about that project. And by the way, it wasn't 43. It was 43 plus because I was planning to yeah. To address the other casualties that for example the soccer players - they are most of the times when you read about them they're not mentioned and there were also kids that they were just coming back to the places and there's some gruesome details I wouldn't mention but yeah there that night was a terrible one for them.
There's a journalist from the US that went to live in Mexico City and she ended making a graphic novel and I think it's a very pretty one. Her name is Andalusia Soloff, she's from New York, but she lives in Mexico City. And she goes by Andalalucha on Twitter. Yeah. She actually got like a an award or something.
She just did the investigation, the artist is someone else. It was a collaboration.
We're almost there. And I didn't include my monogram, but it's okay. I usually do. Yeah, this one. Oh, yeah. It's the CH.
Thank you. Yeah, I may have mistaken a couple letters. Very thin. Yeah, it's another - I forgot my brush. I mean, the bristles are like hard plastic ones. Yeah. I don't like metallic ones.
Yeah, that kind of project like the one I was mentioning sometimes is more personal of course. I had the opportunity to show it in a museum but it wasn't completed on time so I just try to keep them as personal projects and probably they will see the light later on. But they are mainly like motivation stuff I plan to do and in 2024 I wanted to do something because it was a decade of that very tragic event. But sometimes you are involved in other stuff. Like for example, I was in school so I had no time to plan a show. But there's always - I mean no other time to plan it.
Hopefully there's another time to show it. But to do that you have to complete it first. Mhm.
I finished.
The energy of the growing tree. These lines.
Working with creatives and artists, has taught me that you have to be open minded in order to get a project finished at the end, and sometimes you face, well, different ideas, different approaches to the same the same goal, but sometimes you also fight a little bit with other points of views and something I for sure have learned is that you have to be open, that you have to give and take, but you cannot push your ideas be the one that is gonna have the final reason if you want, the final, how do I put the final truth. So it's important to balance what you think and what you do, but also outside the others. It's also good to rely and of course trust the others. Many of you are working with a team, but also if you’re just working with another artist I've also learned that not just one brain was as better as two or more. And yeah, the ideas you could explore with others are better, and sometimes you can nurture from each other.
[Chema & Ray print the block]
A dream collaboration for me would be the next one my life brings to me. I have no ideas right now. To be honest, I'm open to any collaborations, I guess. As long as a project is important or is interesting. It doesn't have to be a very big project or to have a very famous art to look at it. Or a big institution. I think the important part of creating with someone else is the - I don't know how to say it. It's probably the willingness of two or more artists that want to contribute with the same project and when that happens, it's actually not something you are looking for it just happens. And I think. That's it. The dream collaboration would be or is going to be the next one that happens naturally. That’s what I think right now in 2025.
Images
“La Lucha Continua” by CHema Skandal
