Rayos Magos, Mixed Media Artist Email:
rayosmagos.art@gmail.com
IG: rayos_magos
FB: Rayos Magos Art

Artist Bio:

Rayos Magos is a Latinx/Chicano, mixed-media artist from San Jose, CA. His body of work focuses on symbolism, healing, spirituality, mental health, and social justice. Rayos explores personal narratives and universal themes via collage, printmaking, painting, textile/fiber art and sculpture. Mixing various mediums together pushes Rayos to think differently about the creative design process by finding ways to bridge materials.

ARTIST STATEMENT

As an Latinx artist Rayos is inspired by culture, people, identity, and the roles we play in society. His past and present work has been influenced by his investigation into his ethnic and cultural identity as a Chicano (Mexican-American/Latinx) person living in the U.S. Rayos’ present mixed media work explores themes of storytelling, symbolism, culture, and identity. As a youth growing up Rayos learned about his culture in 2-3 pages of history books. Now 30 years later, he delves into a cultural reclamation of his ethnic identity and history through the investigation of Mesoamerican symbols and meanings behind them. Through the symbolism Rayos continues retelling, re-educating, and inspiring Latinx audiences to be curious about their cultural stories. His interest in pre-hispanic art has led him to learn about the archetypal influence imagery has on the past and the present. Rayos sees symbols as offering us a way to understand and connect with our ancestors. In working with symbols he looks to create a visual language of meaning and storytelling. Rayos’ focus on pre-hispanic Mesoamerican art is based on my research and real life experiences as a Latinx/Chicano person. “My intention is to speak through symbols to conjure up distant memories of the past in order to bring them to the present and remind us where we have come from and where we are heading.”