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ARTIST STATEMENT
Where do I fit in? In a confusing world of likes, upvotes, new ideologies, debates, and opinions in flux, I often find myself enthralled and dumbfounded by the symbols around me. I ask how any sane person is supposed to navigate the speeding car on a race to nowhere that is our contemporary culture. Where is my place in the modern world as an artist and an observer? These are the questions that guide my body of work. I consider the subjective nature of human interaction from the internet, politics, history, relationships, and identity to inform my work. Culture can be defined as the common understandings held within a group of people. Symbols within this definition communicate similar or different meanings between groups of people. History and power have established a status quo on much of our common understandings through hierarchies of class, race and gender. One facet of my work is to question that status quo. The internet acts as a global community that agrees and disagrees upon developing cultural symbols through a constant bombardment of digital media. From hashtags, slang, inside jokes, and memes, the virality of internet culture can create and reject new and old symbols overnight. These symbols shape our reality and the way we think, communicate, and view the world. The layers of reality we experience in day-to-day life surface |
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through idiomatic language, visual symbols, and collective and individual values. I address different media such as painting, printmaking, and ceramics with layers in mind to create contrast between visual signifiers. Illustrations on either flat representational images or three-dimensional objects are how I communicate the layers of visual signifiers. Through the lens of cultural critique and analysis I reflect on myself and my place in the culture that surrounds me.
Though I try to be impartial in my observations of culture, it is impossible to do so because I, like everyone, am a biased and cultural being. Therefore, my work acts as a diary of observations influenced by my culture and my experiences within it. I observe the world as a young 21st century American. Understanding my interactions and observations as being culturally constructed allows me to make imagery based on cultural ideas of identity, relationships, and politics of a 21st century American. As I experience my culture, my work expresses my observations. I find myself in the chaos of a new millennium as old as I am, influenced by the internet, political discourse, and new symbols in a state of constant change. As my culture changes, I expect my work to change, and I will always find new answers to the questions I have about my place in the world.
Though I try to be impartial in my observations of culture, it is impossible to do so because I, like everyone, am a biased and cultural being. Therefore, my work acts as a diary of observations influenced by my culture and my experiences within it. I observe the world as a young 21st century American. Understanding my interactions and observations as being culturally constructed allows me to make imagery based on cultural ideas of identity, relationships, and politics of a 21st century American. As I experience my culture, my work expresses my observations. I find myself in the chaos of a new millennium as old as I am, influenced by the internet, political discourse, and new symbols in a state of constant change. As my culture changes, I expect my work to change, and I will always find new answers to the questions I have about my place in the world.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Growing up in a traveling military family, Santillan was exposed to diverse cultures and ideas from rural Italy to American suburbia. Experiencing the differences in American and European customs sparked a curiosity that questions the mundane practices we all participate in. This pressured Santillan into asking himself similar questions about history, politics, culture, and the internet which eventually found its expression through art.
Ramiro Santillan draws from contemporary artists who use classical and modern ideas of revisionism, activism and self-reflection to critique the status quo. He uses traditional media like painting and ceramics to reference photography, and contemporary politics and culture. Using layers of cultural images and symbols to represent overlapping concepts, Santillan represents culture as an abstract and dynamic force. Santillan sees the everyday human experience as being largely based on cultural constructs. Santillan wants to observe and report those cultural constructs.
Santillan has participated in community art projects such as murals for local Valdosta businesses and schools and participates in art exhibitions. He has made works for private and public institutions and has received multiple juried awards for his work such as Best in Show in the South Georgia College Art Competition (SoGA) 2017 and First Place in Valdosta State University’s 22nd Annual Juried Art Exhibition.
Growing up in a traveling military family, Santillan was exposed to diverse cultures and ideas from rural Italy to American suburbia. Experiencing the differences in American and European customs sparked a curiosity that questions the mundane practices we all participate in. This pressured Santillan into asking himself similar questions about history, politics, culture, and the internet which eventually found its expression through art.
Ramiro Santillan draws from contemporary artists who use classical and modern ideas of revisionism, activism and self-reflection to critique the status quo. He uses traditional media like painting and ceramics to reference photography, and contemporary politics and culture. Using layers of cultural images and symbols to represent overlapping concepts, Santillan represents culture as an abstract and dynamic force. Santillan sees the everyday human experience as being largely based on cultural constructs. Santillan wants to observe and report those cultural constructs.
Santillan has participated in community art projects such as murals for local Valdosta businesses and schools and participates in art exhibitions. He has made works for private and public institutions and has received multiple juried awards for his work such as Best in Show in the South Georgia College Art Competition (SoGA) 2017 and First Place in Valdosta State University’s 22nd Annual Juried Art Exhibition.
Rest,
Oil Pastel on Cavnas,
24” x 24” ,
2019
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Self-Portrait, Intaglio Print, 6" x 9", 2021
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Light in Motion,
Color Photography,
24" X 24",
2021
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