Today we’d like to introduce you to Zoe Castañeda
Hi Zoe, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My journey into the creative world started when I was born. My mother was an artist who would fill my life with beautiful people and talents- lots of them being from the area themselves with roots in Deep Elm. She had an eye for calligraphy and always left detailed renditions of my name on top of plastic lunch bags for school. Opening those designs daily made me wonder how she could create such meaningful work and yet be stuck in the world of door-to-door sales. I was always an artist since those days, but seeing her have to sacrifice her talents to put food on the table lit a fire under my ass to make something of myself. So I did everything from traditional painting, photography, videography, sewing, acting- literally anything that involved a creative skillset to invest into. After years of experimenting, I landed back into painting full-time.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Oh no, not even close. The challenges I faced were always what drove me to change- morph really- into a better creative developer. I was a stubborn person and failing constantly with money problems, job losses, relationships ending, trying to end myself at points, even being homeless- it was embarrassing, and I didn’t want to give up on something that rang me through these emotions.
I think the hardest part was the money- it turns out artists do in fact starve! I was working 3 jobs at one point to just make rent, my creative side struggling to keep up with the mental load. I ended up taking a break for a year, thinking I was wasting my time on a pipe dream. Re-investing in myself and accepting the bad things that happened to me is what changed the way I view art. Therapy jump-started a lot of what I couldn’t figure out- you can see most of that translated into my earlier pieces that I no longer reveal at art shows. Art is never easy though, making a living out of it is hard. I just really had to trust myself in not going back to that place of my life again. Moving forward is what kept my will strong to make this actually into something for myself- my name really.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
What don’t I do at this point, honestly haha! I can’t limit myself creatively, a lot of my recent pieces are mixed media traditional paintings. Acrylic, watercolor, oil pastels, 3D putty creams- everything goes into my pieces to invoke a feeling. I *love* putting texture into my art because I’m not a hyper-realist painter. I want people to see my paintings as how I see them in my brain, splattered with multiple translations! I paint for my culture, my story, and for humor. Most of my life story can be reflected in my art with a weird twist that makes you think, “Huh? Why does this person have no underwear? Why is her hair tied up on her neck? What’s up with the animals?” All of these questions, I can answer to my pieces.
I paint with intention and for fun. I don’t think my way of painting is different from others, but I hope my stories are relatable at least. I feel like people view art as, “whoever can copy-paste this human figure on a canvas wins!” But that’s so boring for me. Why copy and paste what we see in a day to day life? I like creating things that are weird and don’t make sense sometimes on a surface level. Curiosity is what makes my art feel like me.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I take inspiration from an artist @mila.useche, they are so talented! I recently watched Look Back and holy cow that hit close to home with tears 10/10- watch this if you are an artist or writer in a creative funk! My direct reflections of my soul are from the shows I watched as a kid, Kill la Kill, Adventure Time, and Ouran Highschool Hostclub- my alltime favorites for what jumpstarted my love for anime and the art style itself. Ahh I could go on and on about animation too haha
Pricing:
- XL Pieces, starting $550
- S Pieces starting at $200
- Digital Pieces starting at $130
- Signage and Murals, email me!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://castanedastudios.carrd.co/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/castanedastudios
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Castaneda-Studios/61550517280220/
Image Credits
Zoe Castaneda
