From San Antonio, Texas
Artist Statement:
The work I am making now is my response to poverty, minimum wage and the feelings of hopelessness at persevering as I work towards something better. This body of work is an expression of financial insecurity, my own pessimism about life juxtaposed with my optimism in the future.
A Favela is a Brazilian Slum that has experienced governmental neglect. A shanty town of closely pact tenements piled on top of each other. My experience of the Favela is in pop media and google images. Pictures of buildings painted bright colors but no actual experience or understanding of a Brazilians life lived in a Favela.
Instead I look at my own country, my own life and wonder what is the American version of this? Perhaps its more than half of Americans living paycheck to paycheck with no real savings or financial safety net. Those Americans, who with one injury, accident, or unforeseen incident could plunge them into life changing debt. Living in rented apartments and rented houses barely able to make ends meet. Here there are no bright painted tenements to signify the poverty line. When I see the growth of tent communities under overpass and hear how homelessness rises I know that if it wasn’t for good friends and good family that could have been my life.
Artist Biography:
Andrew was born and raised north of Chicago, Illinois. In the Midwest he developed his love of art and found his calling as a sculptor working as a studio assistant and fabricator. He decided to pursue a formal education as a way to deepen his understanding in the arts and received his Bachelor of Fine Art from Northern Illinois University and his Masters from Texas A&M University Corpus Christi.
Andrew has been a working and living in San Antonio with his fiancée, Joanna. They have been exploring San Antonio through its arts, food and culture and are excited to be able to get back out and see what the city has to offer.