Rita Leon

Born one balmy night in San Bernardino California, it was not expected for Rita Leon (then baby Hernandez) to have turned out as she did. Unexpected and unfathomed, she was the youngest of six siblings in a household of chaos and dysfunction - proper for a magical and painful upbringing.

Rita always felt different and liked it that way. Being Mexican living in Southern California, and being American living in Mexico; she spent much of her developing life transforming between the rural, under-developed town in La Paz, BCS, and the cookie cutter curb-appeal of Orange County, California. Filled with fantasy of what more the world could be, Rita got to experience life in duality.

Rita’s work is directly informed by both the socio-economic misfortunes of both her family halves, supplemented by a tradition of generational trauma. These experiences are dissected through the use of plants, animals, fruits, and silhouettes that celebrate the sacrifices made for her existence. Although her themes often depict a visual violence, Rita allows beauty to shine through as well. She employs levity through quirk while examining her identity through the exploration of science, anthropology, and pop-culture.

Rita obtained a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting from the California State University of Long Beach. She Simultaneously pursued an apprenticeship in tattooing, later establishing herself at the Sleepy Lagoon tattoo parlor in Anaheim, CA. True to her adaptive ability, her art and tattoo work in tandem -  each practice existing laterally but in conversation with the other.

Centipede, 2021, 38” × 50”

Take Me With You (tryptich), 2021

Beside Myself, 2021, 30” x 45”

Jose Espinoza

Jose A. Espinoza is a multi-disciplinary artist working in illustrations, paintings, sculpture and photography. Born in Mexico, Espinoza is an Immigrant to the United States. His interest in drawing is a result of Japanese and American cartoons from his childhood. Borrowing from the traditions of animation and comic books, he uses bright colors and simplified forms to create vibrant Illustrative paintings. These graphic works range from critiques on political abuse and cruel treatment of  undocumented immigrants to the bridging between his culture’s past and present. Espinoza looks to his ancestry by researching images from Pre-columbian historical artifacts - using the iconography as language and re-contextualizing traditional ancient Mesoamerican motifs into a contemporary context. 

Espinoza has collaborated with professional comedians, musicians and comic book authors. He has provided his illustrations and photographs for a variety of publications including comic book covers, retail merchandise, and other promotional materials.

Jose Espinoza received his BA in Studio Art from CSU Dominguez Hills. There he served as a contributing member of the DH Arts Collective. He worked closely with PRAXIS, developing art based workshops for young children through their City Arts Parks programs. He has also worked with Plaza De La Raza, contributing a publicly accessible drawing tutorial as part of their online Teachables content. Espinoza’s worked earned him a first place award from the statewide CSU Student Research competition in the category of Creative Art and Design.

Watch Jose Espinoza’s video interview here.

Untitled, 2020

Olmie, 2024

La Migracion Involuntaria, 2022

Andreina Giron

Andreina Giron is a visual artist from Inglewood, CA. Her works directly reflect her observations of the constant social and economic changes in her hometown and adjacent travel. Giron pulls inspiration from her daily commutes - analyzing local architecture, public spaces, and small businesses - taking inventory of her city’s defining characteristics. These landmarks become subjects akin to portraits of familial milestones. 

Giron uses art as a means to speak with others about core memories and changes that take place on a personal level. These conversations become a safe space to express vulnerabilities, often manifesting in series of works depicting bug infected landscapes - symbolic of a constant state of anxiety. This process allows her the ability to face fears therapeutically in ways she could not easily express verbally. 

Where some may see her works of trauma and nostalgia as differing themes, Giron approaches both as coexisting worlds. Both provide a look at important landscapes specific to her lived experiences, often through the lens of a Mexican-Salvadorian woman growing up in an ever-evolving staple within the metropolitan Los Angeles area.

Andreina Giron earned her Bachelor’s in Art from the California State University Dominguez Hills. She currently works as an art assistant in South Central Los Angeles and has participated in the Curatorial Internship with artists in residency at the Museum of Latin American Art.

Watch Giron’s video interview with ñ here.

Nunca Mas (Diptych), 30"x52", Oil on canvas with tarp banner and chain.

Las Movies, 11"x14", Ink and water color on paper.

Keep Clean, 11"x14" (unframed), ink on cold press paper.

“El Segundo” exhibition - and what follows

July 2024 was an eventful month. The event in question was our second exhibition showcasing another group of artists from the Los Angeles and Orange regions of Southern California. We had the opportunity to work with Santa Ana College to occupy one of their auxiliary art spaces, the Street Space Gallery, located near Santa Ana’s Artist Village. The mere fact that we have now been able to organize two exhibitions is amazing to us. This second go-around saw us working in a bigger space, handling more artwork, and organizing a larger body of logistics overall. Ultimately, the show was a success. Both our opening and closing receptions coincided with the local art walk, which was amazing. The amount of conversations and interest from the local crowds really validated all the had work that has been going into this platform as a whole.

We approached things a little different this time around, and some of you have noticed. Whereas the previous campaign we introduced you to an array of artists via video and podcasting productions prior to the exhibition, things were flipped this time around. We focused on the exhibition in a more traditional sense and held it before any of our online features. This approach did a couple of things for us, mostly it allowed us to evaluate our production design and how we manage our time with the artists. We did see some advantages to spending a little more time with the cohort collectively prior to any content being released. We are still growing and learning, but there is something to be said about doing what you do well and sticking to it. It’s all about finding a balance, really.

We are approaching the Fall season with September just a couple of days away, and we are ready to share those artist features that we have been working on for the last year or so. The year has brought with it many changes and challenges behind the scenes, and we’ve been really making sure to keep production a priority - out of respect for the artists who have shared their time with us, and our audience who has been patiently waiting for the next series of art content.

We want to take a moment to formally express our gratitude to Santa Ana College and The Santa Ana Art Galleries - Tim Campbell and Steven Montoya, both hard working individuals who helped us realize this exhibition by providing support with installation and publishing. Thank you to the artists we will be featuring these coming months. And thank YOU - the person currently reading, watching, and listening to the art programming we work hard to produce.

Jacqueline Valenzuela

Jacqueline Valenzuela is an East L.A born artist currently living in the City Terrace community of Los Angeles. Jacqueline is a first-gen Mexican-American, born of immigrant parents who heavily nurtured her creative interests from childhood. She credits her father and older brother as her greatest artistic influences. Valenzuela’s father looked to family and friends as models for cartoon drawings while her older brother focused on realism. As a young girl, she would browse his sketchbooks and borrow art supplies to make work of her own.

Valenzuela developed an early interest in the subcultures within her community, from the underground punk scene in East L.A. to the candied lowriders cruising Whittier Blvd every Sunday morning. She would eventually come upon a lowrider of her own, a 1975 Cadillac El Dorado. As Valenzuela committed herself further into the scene, she became increasingly aware of the lack of female representation. She took issue with how a woman’s role in lowrider culture has been limited to sexual objectification, often relegated as models and accents to the cars themselves.

Valenzuela began focusing her work on lowrider women hoping to magnify the importance of their presence, broadening how the public perceives their influence. Using bold colors, portraiture, and the urban landscape she creates compositions that emphasize femininity in an otherwise designated male-dominated world. Her work combines the murals commonly seen in Latinx communities that focus on religion and social issues, with the erasure of women in the hierarchy of lowrider traditions.

Valenzuela has exhibited her work at various non-profits, artist-run spaces, and galleries throughout Los Angeles. She recently organized a collaborative show at the artist-run Flatline Gallery in Long Beach, and collaborated on the stand out lowrider build known as The Heart of Gold.

Watch Valenzuela’s video interview with ñ here.

That first burnout was a doozie

Hello everyone! Happy New Year and… hold on, January is ending… where have we been? Yes, the year has practically already aged it’s first month, and you haven’t heard from us since October of last year. Well, it has been a tricky trek from the beginning, and the end of 2021 presented it’s own challenges. But, before we chalk everything up to victimhood, let’s clarify that much of the time off was been one of review and development.

ñ started as an idea with no defined team. Once the ball got rolling as a duo, there were talks of other contributors joining in. Unfortunately, their dedication wasn’t as strong as we’d hoped. We’ve been in talks of welcoming others to help with video, music, and expanded programming, but nothing quite stuck. A big factor remained the fluctuating state of public health guidelines. 2021 was just the second chapter of 2020 with regards to COVID-19. The reality was that numerous people were continuing to deal with illness all around us. Almost every production was literally plagued with rescheduling issues and all parties doing their best to avoid/manage possible exposure. Eventually, having to tackle the same amount of work within a shorter time frame, the burnout hit hard. We originally planned to leave December of last year open as a buffer before welcoming the new year. It just so happened November was taken from us and became an extended part of that break.

But’s it’s not all bad. Once we conceited to the gnarly circumstances, we spent the time to 1) rest, 2) rest some more, and 3) review what we’ve done so far. The hardest part of new projects is learning what works and what doesn’t. We have been really looking at the details of what we like, and what felt like too much work for so-so results. We’re also more aware of what ñ is meant to do, what we are trying to produce, and how we would like to make those things happen. We have been sitting back at the table further planning expanded programming and ideas to help fund other facets of this project.

We will soon share more information on upcoming changes and new things to look forward to. Meanwhile, accept this blog entry as an official check-in. We have more artist features to share with you this year, albeit on a more manageable timeline. We continue to speak to new artists interested in sitting down with us. We are working to forge new relationships and possible collaborations to take this platform to a more exciting level. Like always, we invite you to contact us if you are interested as well.

Lastly, we’d like to thank everyone for your continued support. We truly appreciate you.

- Santos

Mark Hocutt

Mark Anthony Hocutt is a Whittier born artist, born from a white father and brown first-gen mother. His work is heavily influenced by car culture thanks to his father, who personally owned several classics. Memories of their shared passion include rising early on weekends to visit the Pomona Swapmeet – a recurring Southern California staple. He has been recognized throughout the lowrider community for his particular designs and unique paint application.

Growing up near Whittier Blvd, Mark regularly experienced over-the-top patterned lowriders, hot rods, and restored classics. By the age of sixteen he had come to own his first project car, a 1984 El Camino, gifted to him by an uncle. Through years of hard work Mark’s admiration evolved into automotive building and customization. He would spend years and various apprenticeships learning the skills needed to mirror classic lowrider stylings from the 60s and 70s. By the age of twenty-five he became a partial owner of his own auto body shop that doubled as a creative space, The Kolor Studio.

Mark’s education in traditional airbrush and automotive paint was built through various mentorships outside of a traditional academic setting. His work combines the classic approach with innovative techniques he has discovered through experimentation. Mark has shown his work in artist-run spaces and galleries throughout Los Angeles county. He has most recently gained attention for his custom build and paint job on a 1964 Chevrolet Impala, The Heart of Gold, a unique canvas he has developed alongside his partner and studio artist, Jacqueline Valenzuela. This build involves a prolific paint job that exhibits a culmination of every skill he has developed over a decade in the industry.

Watch Mark’s video interview with ñ here.

Gloria Sanchez

Photo by Isai Barrios

Gloria “Gem” Sanchez is a Xicana-Filipina American interdisciplinary artist and art educator that works in painting, assemblage, weaving, installation, and sign making. Her use of everyday objects blended with traditional art materials and techniques invokes the art concept of ‘Rasquache,’ or ‘Rasquachismo,’ which signify a resourceful sensibility to create art. It is making the most out of the least with the inclusion of found and recycled elements.  Many of her recent works merge sculpture, painting, and weaving to transpose symbols she learned growing up within a hybrid, culturally blended environment. Her intentions come from a place of decolonization, as well as transcending the effects of intergenerational trauma and marginalization by preserving family histories.

In recent years, Gloria has incorporated hair within her installation works due to a belief in its capacity to harness memories and personal power. It is a symbol and literal extension of our spiritual essence, strength, and resilience when gathered and manipulated into a type of braid or cordage to merge with other materials. Her work with fibers is representative of the many interconnecting and intersectional layers that manifest in our emotional and physical existence as a woman of color in America. Gloria is dedicated to her art practices as a means of spiritual survival and art for healing.

Working and residing in the Harbor/ South Bay area of Tovaangar (Los Angeles), Gloria “Gem” Sanchez earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting with a minor in Art Education from Cal State Puvungna (Long Beach) in 2014.

Watch Gloria’s video interview with ñ here.

Photo by Isai Barrios

Hugo Lomeli

Hugo Lomeli is a multidisciplinary artist born in Tepatitlan, Jalisco, Mexico, and raised in Long Beach, Ca. He developed his art skills through self-exploration up until the age of 21, when he found mentorship from established muralists and graffiti artists through the Urban Arts program. There he spent an intensive year of visual art training and development. Lomeli later studied Digital Design and Marketing at Santa Monica College. Here he learned to supplement his painting skills with the design principles of a digital workflow.

Lomeli’s art is a multimedia mix of realism and abstraction, paying homage to calligraphy to represent the ethereal. He allows his designs to materialize organically, allowing the natural to be represented in an explosive manner. His work can be identified through a wisping motif - lines emanating outward from within the center or characters in his paintings.

Through his relationships and mentorships, Lomeli would go on to participate and lead several community art based programs, including public murals and entrepreneurial programs catered mostly to the youth and formerly incarcerated adults. Today, he continues to work as a muralist while continuing his personal development via canvas paintings. Lomeli’s practice is heavily based on community outreach, focusing his efforts to benefit lower socioeconomic communities.

Watch Lomeli’s video interview with ñ here.

Phyrun Deab

Phyrun Deab is a painter and digital artist born in Thailand with a Cambodian background. After first moving to Texas in the early 80’s, his family eventually settled in Long Beach, CA where most Cambodian refugees had migrated at the time. Phyrun grew up on Asian traditions in conjunction with western culture - a journey that proved difficult when trying to establish an identity and satisfactory career path.

After years of exploring various jobs, Phyrun came upon the opportunity of doing what every young dedicated gamer would dream of - game testing. Working under contract with Activisions’ Quality assurance team, he became immersed in the many facets involved with video game production. He would dedicated the next few years of his life to putting in long, overtime hours playing broken games and learning about the creative process behind game design and debugging.

He would eventually enlist into the United States Army, citing his experience as eye opening. Applying his efforts in service to his pursuit of a career in art and design, he enrolled in college to sharpen his skills in conceptual art and illustration. Phyrun graduated from the California State University, Long Beach with a BA in Studio Art.

Watch Phyrun’s video interview with ñ here.

A Method In March Madness

March was here, but quickly it disappeared. With it, the madness that took a strong hold of the production process here at ñ reigned hard. As a new project platform we have been working on sorting some things out. Not immune to setbacks and obstacles, our artist features were put on hold for us to take time and evaluate what we’ve been able to accomplish at start-up and how we can continue to do so from here on out.

COVID-19, now officially completing a year since it’s global impact, has still been a major hurdle for many. Working with artists in the capacity that we do involves clear communication and trust. We navigated the last month with caution as many people doubled down on staying safe while awaiting their opportunity at a vaccine. Here at ñ, we support and encourage those who err on the side of caution for the sake of public health and safety. We deeply appreciate the artists with whom we’ve been working and are excited to continue doing so.

So what should you expect next? April is now here, and with it we will be presenting a new artist feature. We are currently working with and wrapping up future spotlights. Having had the chance to sit down and fine-tune some our work, we are now continuing the labor of love that is building new friendships throughout the art community. We thank everyone who has joined us so far and welcome others to tag along. We welcome all questions and inquiries. Contact here on our website or visit us on intagram @enye_studio.

- Santos

Isai Of Los Angeles

Isai De Los Angeles is a Los Angeles based artist raised in South Central primarily working in painting, photography, sculpture, and ceramics. Growing up in a family owned business in South Central has influenced Isai to create work about the people who work and live within the community. Isai interprets small business culture around him in both past and present to create work that deals primarily with labor and family history. Isai’s current body of work consists of portraits of his mother and father, portraying them in their family owned dry cleaning business established in 2007. Isai includes photographs in his paintings through photo transfers to mirror the documentation and recording of family history.

Isai De Los Angeles has received a Praxis teaching artist fellowship award. He has work archived in the Donald R. & Beverly J. Gerth Archives and Special Collections in California, as well as published work in ​Enjambed magazine. His work has been exhibited in galleries throughout southern California including: Black Umbrella Tattoo and Art Gallery, Winston Hewitt Studio, and the University Art Gallery at the California State University of Dominguez Hills. Isai has prepared, and installed art pieces working directly with artists at galleries such as Launch LA and Residency Art Gallery, as well as in the desert for the very first Candlewood Arts Festival held in Borrego Springs, CA.

Watch Isai’s video interview with ñ here.

Santos on meeting new artists and friends

Santos here. For those of you who don’t personally know me or follow me on instagram, you can read a quick blurb about me in the “about” section. This writing isn’t so much about me personally, but it is about meeting new people and what it takes to do so. 

As an art student, I often had and heard others have conversations about working alongside peers and never knowing them beyond art critiques. Even the friends I did make once shared the same space without us really knowing much about each other. Some of them I was naturally drawn to. Others it took a semester or much longer before the ice was truly broken. Now as graduates, a select few of us keep in regular contact, but many of us could’ve very easily moved on without any real connection if it hadn’t been for something that allowed us to create stronger ties. In the end, all it took was the willingness to simply speak and ask questions; a genuine attempt to want to know someone is always key in establishing good relationships.

This will is what ultimately defined my time as an art student, working alongside talented artists and wanting to connect with them on a level beyond language ritual. My focus as an artist morphed drastically from theory and design to communication and human relationships. I realized i had an interest in understanding others and learning how their experiences influenced the work they created - often even the lifestyle they embraced. This eventually influenced the model on which ñ was built. When ñ was in it’s conceptual stages, it was apparent that there was a safe zone that needed to be breached. We had to put ourselves out there if we wanted to create the very opportunities we seek to collaborate with other artists. Without that effort, there is no opportunity to further connect these artists with prospective viewers and community members.

Although ñ is new - new to the scene, new to you, and even new to us - we are constantly working to meet new artists. Some of the artist we are collaborating with are also new friends to us. The same way we are dedicating our willingness to reach out and meet new artists, we invite you to do the same. If you have questions for any of the artist you see on ñ, we try and provide information on where to reach them. If you have questions for ñ, you can contact us to get a conversation started whether it be through official emails or social media. Our goal as a platform is to connect people, but our goal as individuals is to make friends. Feel free to reach out, and engage the willingness to create new friendships.

-Santos

Brianna Correa

Brianna Correa is a second generation Xicana, born and raised in Whittier California. Her mother has always encouraged her creative growth, as well as her father who used to paint drawings on picket signs in Mexico. She draws on anything she could get her hands on, from her school journals to her grandmother's bookkeeping notebooks.

Brianna has always been influenced by TV shows and figurines. TV shows that ranged from El Tigre, Teen Titans, DC, Adventure Time and Steven Universe. She was always drawn to the Homie Series and decal stickers of demon babies that you could get for 25 cents. She started making sketches and paintings of beautiful curvaceous women for a little pocket change but became aware that these small paintings were bringing awareness to a community of women/people who are underrepresented in the media.

Brianna later continued making these paintings to help represent women who have not been considered beautiful by industry standards and she now looks for ways to praise them, emphasizing the idea that one's perception of “beauty” is different from others. The use of bright colors in her artwork indicate emotion, mood and attitude. Her paintings are meant to embrace their size and their sexuality, hoping to help plus-size women feel empowered when looking at her artwork. Many are discouraged for being bigger but she wants them to feel confident in their skin.

 Watch Brianna’s video interview with ñ here.

If you’re reading this… welcome to ñ

The year is 2020 and as the history books will tell you, this year was not a kind one. At the start of this calendar year a project was underway to create an online platform to help discover and promote emerging artists. As the ball and cameras began rolling the world was hit with the COVID-19 pandemic, putting a pause on various industries for the sake of health and safety. Some industries pressed on as the world continued to turn, but we here in the United States turned a little slower. 10 months and a couple of lockdown orders later, ñ got back on track and is showing no mercy.

Keeping things in motion, we reached out to various individuals, each of them working hard to find their place as artists. We have done so hoping to connect with new faces, form trusting relationships, and help them connect with their communities and others. This mission has manifested itself in the form of an interview series AS AN ARTIST. This series provides a first hand look as the artists walk us through their process. Each episode is meant to enlighten the audience with the artists’ stories of not only where they stand, but how they got there and where the plan to go next. This is the beginning of ñ establishing itself as a hub for artist collaboration and community. Just a couple of weeks away, ñ plans to start 2021 strong with its official launch as a new virtual resource for the arts.

- ñ