

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Galvan Cruz.
Hi David, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Honestly, I’ve always been an artsy kid, so it’s somewhat challenging to pinpoint exactly where it all started. Growing up with a dad who liked to sketch and doodle is what I believe actually jump-started my love for art. I remember how he would spend his days off doodling and sketching in these cheap dollar store journals with the driest markers and chalkiest color pencils, which would never truly stain the paper. And to be fair, he wasn’t an artist; in fact, he was a tile and flooring installer, so his knowledge of good artistic materials was limited, but he still appreciated what he had. However, it was sweet to have him draw us cartoon characters and random images he found online, and I would try to imitate him all throughout my elementary school life.
We both shared a love for cartoons and anime. When I see specific anime characters or TV show bumpers, I always remember him spending those moments sitting with me and intently watching the TV. Because of that, I carried that love for cartoons and the wacky nature of animation with me throughout high school and college. However, coming from a Mexican household, I knew that pursuing art, mainly painting, wouldn’t truly be something that would get me full support from my parents. I remember arguing with my mom all through my time at Dallas College because I couldn’t figure out what I truly wanted to be. I went from wanting to become a lawyer, to a pastry chef, to an art teacher, and later landed on just pursuing painting. Which I find so funny because I still don’t know what I truly want to be after graduating. It’s innate for me to be so indecisive.
However, I truly fell in love with painting, I knew was something I can never live without. I grew up going to schools that lacked the proper funding for a fully fleshed out art program, which left me behind on everything. When I finally attended Dallas College, I felt so dumb because I had never held a brush before or knew that oil paint existed. It’s embarrassing to even admit that, even now, I’m often unfamiliar with most art history, but I’m doing my best to catch up. I’ve continued to push forward and create pieces of work that—at the time—I was super proud of, while also fighting this deep-rooted imposter syndrome that I haven’t recovered from.
Currently, I am studying at the University of Texas at Arlington after graduating with my Associates Degree from Dallas College in 2023. I still suffered during those first few semesters of university, but with the guidance of my professors, Ben Terry and Claire Kennedy, I finally see good progress in my work. They’ve whipped me into shape, and it’s crazy to think that I started off so naive and somewhat full of myself. If I could go back in time, I would go back to when I walked into my first painting class at UTA and slap myself across the face. I’d tell myself to actually listen to critiques and not get upset when told to actually think about how you display your work and what it means to you. It’s been hard, especially when I suffer from imposter syndrome and insecurity with my skills, but with graduation on the horizon, I’ve been feeling more confident that I actually have grown and become a better artist.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
OF COURSE NOT, it has been the most twisted and confusing road that has ever existed. Like I stated before, I come from an underfunded school that lacked the materials and money to provide a good education when it comes to art. In high school, I remember we had an annual art competition that was held in Austin in which multiple charter schools would compete for the “state title”. I remember I was so confident and thought I would eat up the competition since I was one of the best artists in school and the test portion was just a simple study of a houseplant placed in the middle of the room which we had to sketch in graphite. In a group of 30 students, I placed 27th… MY WORLD CAME CRASHING DOWN! Like…what do you mean I actually haven’t been learning true art theory or composition?
It got worse once I started at Dallas College, since most of my peers were seasoned artists or went to high schools that actually educated their students on perspective and color theory. My ego and confidence took a giant hit and since then I truly have not felt fully confident in my skills. I struggle a lot to believe that I am good enough to be at UTA or that I deserve my diploma from working hard and continuing my studies. I often find that I compare myself to my classmates and friends with how they present themselves and their amazing works of art. I have always been plagued with the insecurity of never being good enough. However, I have been working on taking the steps to prevent myself from falling back into insecurity and self-doubt.
Another main issue I faced on my journey was in general finding myself and my identity. I came out of the closet after graduating from high school back in 2020 during the pandemic. I come from a Catholic Mexican family, so the idea that I was gay was a somewhat shock to everyone, except it wasn’t really a shock. I was always flamboyant and different from all the other men in my family, so when I came out no one really took it as a shock but instead of a confirmation of their theories. Except there was someone who took it the hardest: My mom. I have always been a mommy’s boy, so when the one person I was closest to wasn’t willing to fully accept who I was, I felt so alone and betrayed. Keep in mind this was during the pandemic, so I was truly isolated. However, despite my mom’s denial, there was someone who truly accepted me, my grandmother.
Halfway through 2021, she passed away, leaving me in a manic state. I went down a dark hole of self-deprecation and self harm. Thinking back now, I can’t fully remember most of that era of my life because of how out of it I was. I was struggling so much with my gender identity that I couldn’t feel comfortable in my own skin. It also led me to have issues with my physical appearance, I struggled with my weight and the face I saw in the mirror. I felt disgusted with myself. I took a step back and started processing all these feelings with my art. I found a way to process these emotions and began to collect myself while creating these works. It’s hard to think back on these periods of time because I am humiliated by the choices I made while dealing with the grief of losing this connection with my biggest supporter that showed me unconditional love.
I thank my mentors and professors for pushing me to use these times as inspiration for the pieces I’ve been making. I feel like I have finally reached a place where I found some sort of solace with the past and with the effort I’ve put in to get where I am now both mentally and artistically.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My work mainly focuses on me and my internal struggles since the one thing I’m most knowledgeable in and understand the most is myself. It touches on my queerness and my culture as a non-binary gay Latino and the unique struggles I go through. I’ve always had a weird feeling with painting other subject matter due to my fear of being too misinformed or not fully understanding the weight of some of the topics. I mainly choose to focus on myself—since I was raised by my father who was somewhat infatuated with himself—it’s innate that his son really loves talking about himself.
Just like my gender identity, my work is fluid and changes a lot to what I feel most comfortable in. When I first started painting at UTA, I focused mostly on traditional painting and more general slapstick subjects, like a dramatically lit scrub daddy or crudely constructed cutouts of cartoon characters. As time has passed I am more into self portraits and conveying my personal love life. I’m also not afraid to venture out of painting, I love sculptural and digital work. I’m a well rounded artist when it comes to handling different mediums. I’ve grown to love mixed media work like adding frills, yarn, clay, and beads on to my pieces. I love decorating and embellishing my paintings, it reminds me a lot of my grandmother’s sewing works where she would fill every little crevice of her projects with small flowers or intricate line work. All my work is vibrant and punchy almost in a kitschy and chaotic way, yet still controlled with every piece placed with care and love.
I take inspiration from multiple sources, with the most prevalent being clutter core, rasquachismo, and queer media, such as drag and fashion. On top of being raised in a very Mexican household, I was also raised near Oak Lawn- Dallas’ very queer neighborhood. It’s embedded in my DNA that I will always be flashy and loud with my art because I am very proud of both of those sides of my identity. It’s funny because my art is so confident and out there when I myself am very shy and reserved. I turn so red at the drop of a pin but my work can depict intimate acts between two people and I don’t feel embarrassed at all.
To me, what sets me apart from everyone is how unapologetically “me” I am. I love to push boundaries if I can and explore the sides of my culture that is almost taboo to speak about. Currently one of my favorite artists is Madeline Lee (mads.paintss on instagram) and her intimate and soft closeups of the female body. As well as Naruki Kukita (narukikukita on instagram) with his strange hyperrealistic figure studies of the male body that are accompanied by these anime/cartoon characters that interact with the model. I’m also not afraid to step into different territories to try and find something I am interested in. I love to explore and incorporate different techniques into my work, almost like a chimera. Currently I am going through another art puberty where I am growing and expanding into abstract works, which younger me would absolutely hate. It’s all about being open and accepting of all forms of art, at the end of the day I wouldn’t benefit from being closed minded to change. Thats what I’m most proud of, my inability to adapt and change, as well as not being afraid to be myself.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I have trouble focusing so reading is extremely hard for me, however… I LOVE PODCASTS AND RETROSPECTIVES. On top of being a fan of the arts, I love film and music. I have moments where when I work I put on a podcast or discussion video to focus on my work. I will admit as embarrassing as it is, I am bad at finding artist podcasts that focus solely on traditional art but I do love to sit and listen to someone talk about current internet topics or the impact of media on a generation of people. Some good examples are Tee Noir on YouTube who discusses a lot of the issues women face on social media and the impact some trends have on the younger generations of women of color. Another person I love listening to is Big Joel on YouTube who reviews films and discusses some of the underlying messages in the film as well as the history behind its creation or political topics that are currently being discussed.
As for podcasts I love listening to queer creators like Antonio Garza and her podcast named “Not Thriving Podcast” in which she discusses her experiences growing up as a trans teen and her experience on the internet since she’s become famous. It’s honestly refreshing since I grew up with her (she’s only 2 years younger than me) and I could relate to a lot of her comical yet self deprecating recollections of her past. As well as Maddie Morphosis in his podcast “Give It To Me Straight” where he brings on fellow drag performers and queer artists to his podcast and gives them a platform to speak and share intimate moments with his audience and he goes into detail about their past while also understanding his boundaries as a straight cis person.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.groovyyardfunhouse.com
- Instagram: @_groovyyard_