Colorz Magazine

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Rocio Cabrera

& Tori Wheeler Rocio Cabrera about the artist

cover photo/’unavailable,’ rocio cabrera

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rocio cabrera’s art lets black girls be weird and wonderful

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inner views with rocio marie cabrera

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art bae rocio cabrera fights misogyny one canvas at a time

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an interview with unapologetic artist, rocio marie

23-27

PAINTINGS

punch needle cover art/kate doolittle, inspired by tori wheeler magazine design & creation/kate doolittle contributors/angelina ruiz, amanda saviñón, maria rodriguez-morales, kiara cristina ventura, kris lee

TORI WHEELER about the artist

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student profile: tori wheeler

44-46

28-34

URL

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EARRINGS

35-36

RUGS...

53-58

NECKLACES

37-38

RUGS,

59-60

CLOTHES

39-40

& MORE RUGS!

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is not a real magazine! This is not a real magazine! This is not a real magazine! This is not a real magazine! This is not a real magazine!

oci

Rocio Cabrera

she/her @rociomarie__ @rocioartny (backup)

rocioart.com

photo credit/loyal nana

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about the artist

about

Rocio Marie Cabrera is a painter and sculptor from the Bronx whose paintings capture difficult emotions with playful, vivid colors that call to the inner child. She designs, sculpts, and assembles earrings and necklaces that are every bit as kaleidoscopic as her paintings and bring RocioArt off of the wall and onto the body. While many of her pieces reflect heavy personal feelings, the bright colors, clouds, and stars that populate her paintings and jewelry make her works vibrate with fantastical optimism.

photo credit/loyal nana

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rocio cabrera’s art lets black girls be weird and wonderful

october 27, 2020

by angelina ruiz ALLURE “I really don’t know how the fuck this is still happening, or how it’s happened,” Bronxbased, Dominican-American artist Rocio Cabrera says of her success as an artist and “accidental” jewelry designer. But her popularity in this current moment seems practically inevitable: Her paintings, which Cabrera says are often inspired by her anxiety, combine bright colors, rainbows, and clouds with a dark twist of raw emotion.

(One piece, featuring a joint-smoking woman with Euphoria-style liner and devil horns, concisely sums up 2020: “This shit’s whack.”)

ALLURE: How did you get into the arts? Was it something you were always connected to, or did you find it later in life?

ROCIO CABRERA: I have always been into art. I’m a very anxious person, so doing things with my hands has always been a way to calm me down. When it comes to [making] jewelry, which is what I am primarily selling right now, that was a mistake. I remember I was on a bus ride home from Atlantic City. I was super-bored and fell into a YouTube hole about polymer clay. I went home and tried to make my first pair of earrings, and people wanted them.

And now I’m here, paying my rent with jewelry. It’s pretty crazy.

But yeah, I think I’ve always been an artist. I’ve always wanted to be an artist. I don’t see myself doing Although their skin is usually a blend of or- anything else anges, greens, purples, and blues, Cabrera at all, ever. says all the subjects of her paintings are Black; the art shows us that Black girls can be as weird and wondrous as they please.

As we entered the last quarter of a year filled with civil unrest and a global health crisis, Cabrera spoke with Allure about her journey in the arts, what drives her to create, and how she balances the message society expects of her with what she actually wants to put out in the world.

photo credit/rocio cabrera

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ALLURE: What pushed you to start working for yourself and start your brand?

RC: I worked in a hair salon for fucking six years as a receptionist on the Upper East Side. And some racist shit happened where I trained this girl to do my job and she ended up getting paid four more dollars an hour than I was. So that gave me the push to be like, “I’m leaving.” Like, no warning. And then I just started selling artwork in the subway. Then I started doing markets and I accidentally started making earrings. I really don’t know how the fuck this is still happening, or how it’s happened. But it’s been dope.

‘the ungrateful pothead,’ rocio cabrera

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ALLURE: How do you stay inspired? If you’re stuck in a mental rut, do you try to work through it, or just get back to the project later?

RC: Fortunately, because my business has been able to go in two different directions, I always [have] earring orders that I have to fulfill. So if I can’t paint, I will not paint.… That needs to come from a genuine place for me or I don’t even want to show [my work] to people. But [recently] I started getting really anxious if a certain amount of time has passed and I haven’t produced work.

I think that’s just because I don’t want people to forget that I’m an artist; I want people to take me seriously so bad. And I have to get over that. We’re artists — whether we create once a year or all the fucking time, as long as it’s coming from a genuine place…

ALLURE: Where do you find your inspiration for your art?

RC: Tim Burton was my favorite artist growing up. Lisa Frank will always be the shit, you know. I know it’s trendy and cute to love Bratz dolls, but I had every Bratz doll and toy that came out.

[I also] get inspiration from the outdoors. I was really inspired by kids, by little girls, honestly. I’m trying to touch that part of people’s hearts — the nostalgic [part] — even though I’m dealing with really dark things in my art. There’s always stars, or rainbows, or clouds. I want it to be comforting. I’m making a lot of my art for little Rocio.

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ALLURE: I think of your style as reaching out to our inner child and the things we wanted to rock when we were younger, but combined with political statements.

Like, “this can be cute,” and also, “fuck the police.”

RC: There was a part of me in college that was going back to “you need to be taken seriously,” and the things that I’m talking about in my art are very fucking serious. But it’s still me. Rainbows and stars and whatever the hell they are, they can still make as big of a statement. I don’t want to put myself in a box or feel like I’m making cutesy shit that doesn’t matter. It does matter to me how I’m expressing myself. I’m always gonna be fucking a little angry and pissed off [in my art] because of the product of me being a Black woman, just living here in America. That’s always going to be in the background.

A lot of my creativity comes from a place of anxiety or depression. Or, like, really high highs. I can’t create when I’m just feeling super-fucking normal. When your creativity or your subject matter is coming from a dark place, you also have to find the energy, whether you’re inspired or not.

ALLURE: If money wasn’t an object, what would you have for Rocio Art? RC: I feel like deep down inside I really like to stunt. I really like to spend money, and I’m trying to work on it, but there’s a rich woman trapped inside of me. So, aside from buying things for myself, I’d really like Rocio Art to be an empire. I’d love to make pink-rhinestone refrigerators, funky couches, and shag fucking wallpaper. I [have] imagined so many things and I’ve come to a place in my career where I need to start thinking [about the] bigger picture and making those steps.

brat 7

ALLURE: The art world can often be very white and male-centered. As a Dominican American, and a woman, are you afraid that people will see your identity first and your art second?

RC: My last interview, I was asked how my intersectionality and my identity reflect through my pieces, and I had to sit there and come up with an answer. Being this Black girl is represented in my work, and it was like, “Yo, my work’s just about me. And it’s naturally going to include my identity — I can’t run away from that.” But that is not the thesis of my art. So it makes me question myself. It’s like, “Yo, are you even making anything of real value if you aren’t saying these grand things about everybody else who looks like you?” I’d love to be in galleries, right? And be respected in the art world amongst these white dudes. But if it doesn’t happen, I’m perfectly okay with that. Because the internet has given me the platform to share my work whether I’m accepted into these spaces or not. So I don’t really think about that anymore. In college, I used to think about that a lot. Like, “Is my work big enough, important enough, political enough to be in these spaces?”

But now I’ve really been able to find comfort in the fact that I can make work for me. And if it sells, it sells.

But there isn’t a lot of thinking that goes into my process. It’s very natural. I don’t draw things before I make them; I’m just sitting down, painting.

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photo credit/loyal nana

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I AM A

photo credit/rocio cabrera

ALLURE: If I saw a white artist’s work, I wouldn’t ask them if their art was about being white….

sculptures. And they were from the Bronx; they were called Uptown Babies. And I had to redo the sculptures because they looked like white girls, and it was, like, a week before the show.

And I was just crying and working super hard. I was like, “Nah, this doesn’t represent me.”

RC: Or if you’re ever given a platform, you need to speak for the people who look like you because we don’t give you mother- ALLURE: Seeing the experiences of Black and Brown girls fuckers opportunities often. represented in a fantastical way is beautiful. We rarely see depictions of us being fun and carefree; we don’t have that luxury.

ALLURE: I noticed that instead of using traditional colors for skin tones, you use RC: [My art is] about me, and I am a Black person. So I guess it’s bright colors. Are these figures supposed about Black people, but they all are self-portraits and reflecting to have a race? the things I’m dealing with, in my mind. I feel like everybody is dealing with the same shit, right? Like, we can all relate really RC: Well, most of my girls are self-por- fucking hard. Especially now during [the] Black Lives Matter traits. They’ll have bigger noses or bigger movements and stuff. I felt guilty having a good day on Instamouths. These are Black girls — whether gram, as a Black person. You know what I mean? It’s like, how they’re blue or purple or not, you know dare you be chillin’ in your apartment, having fun. I feel like it is what I mean? I want people to know that. not our responsibility to fix the fucking world as Brown people.

I was in this show a couple months ago, I think our happiness should be our first priority. And that is our before COVID, and I had to sculpt three job. You know, while we’re here. +

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IEW

inner views with rocio marie cabrera

june 18, 2017

by amanda saviñón LOYAL NANA

Rocio is one of my favorite artists right now because she is breaking all the rules. This Summer, I went to her at-home studio for a little chat...

LOYA NANA: Who are you?

ROCIO CABRERA: Rocio Cabrera, 24 year old artist from The Bronx.

LN: What art medium do you work with?

RC: Painting and Sculpting LN: Where are we?

RC: We are on Pelhman Parkway in my tiny ass closet of a bedroom in my family’s apartment.

LN: I have been following you a while now on social media. You started by making these really funny and very raw 15 second videos on just about anything. i think thats when I fell in love with you and your swag.

How/when did it all shift to this?

RC: I mean, I don’t know, I just like talk a lot as a person in general. I am really hyper all the time, I am very talkative and I have a lot to say. But then, I feel like I grow really quickly too so like after a month, I would go back to those videos and be like “Rocio please shut the fuck up, you aint saying nothing right now.” Know what I mean? I try my hardest not to flood the gram with my bullshit but it’s still all on my IG story.

I talk shit on my story all day…. **CAT JUMPS ON TO TABLE**

LN: I LOVE your bedroom/studio. I mean, you can’t even see your bed! It’s like a bunk but with the work space at the bottom.

LN: Oh, who’s this?

RC: This is banana, he is mad friendly.

RC: Well that wasn’t a swag move, I just literally had NO SPACE so my bed has to be in the ceiling. But thank you though.

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LN: Can you describe the time when you first realized that creating was something you absolutely had to do? Like you knew you couldn’t get through this life without making things?

RC: Damn, umm. I feel like as a little girl I tried to pay attention in class and I couldn’t pay attention without drawing at the same time. Or if there was a piece of paper like a recipe in my hand I would rip it up. Like my hands always have to be moving and I think its because I am an anxious ass bitch.

And it translates to constantly having to make things. But it has always been natural for me. There has not been a time when I haven’t been creating. I just can’t help myself type of shit.

LN: You had this bio in your IG before which read “Pissed off art school reject.”

Are you indeed an art school reject?

RC: Well I got into Hunter College and got a degree in Studio Art so I don’t like to call myself an art school reject anymore. But like, SVA was not having it. They weren’t trying to fuck with me. But my wallet wasn’t trying to fuck with them, so. But Hunter was the shit, I am glad I went there.

photo credit/loyal nana

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photo credit/loyal nana

SP LN: Did you know Hunter actually has one of the best Painting programs in the country?

RC: I heard that! I didn’t know it until I was in there. Hunter helped me a lot.

LN:You’re still so young and I only know you as I know you now so what was your childhood like?

RC: I’ve always been a weird chick, you know? In High School, I would wear a handmade tutu over my jeans. I was THAT weird bitch. I hadn’t always been very confident about myself so I feel like drawing these girls, the girls I draw, are very confident and weird.

They look like aliens and they have a lot of glitter and sparkles. They are unapologetic.

These were girls I aspired to look like. I guess thats where it came from.

LN: A lot of your paintings are self portraits. Why you?

RC: When I started I took photos of myself and painted over them. I think people thought that I was full of myself but its the exact opposite. Like I don’t know how fly I was until I took a step back and painted myself. On a daily basis, it is hard to realize how fly you really are.

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PARK LN: You market and sell your own work from your handmade earrings and rings to your bongs and ash trays. How important is the aspect of “business” on “art”?

RC: I feel like I have two sides: my artist side that I got from my dad and my bad ass business woman savage side that I got from my mom because my mom is general in charge bitch all the time. I am really thankful I got that from her but the business aspect takes away from the art a bit. For example, I started making ashtrays and I was like I want to make money. I was thinking, what are people into now a days? People like Dragon Ball Z and shit so thats what I created. And I did make money too but it didn’t say shit about me as an artist.

Its all about balance. I am just still figuring out the business aspect of it. In this last year.

LN: Does the business aspect of it, (which is essentially you on social media pushing your art on your followers) get in the way?

photo credit/loyal nana

RC: I have NO SHAME. I don’t want to be a painter. I don’t want to be categorized as an artist. I just want everything. I haven’t been able to put my dreams in a sentence yet but I always share with people: you know the Hello Kitty store in Times Square? That store has EVERYTHING, even toasters! I want to make everything.

I want to be a brand rather than an artist. I’m just trying to run shit.

SQUAD

LN: How has social media helped your art and your message?

they understand that I don’t want to talk to them right now. So thats cool.

RC: Social media is my life. My entire life. Social media is the only reason I have any money in my pocket right now. And its helped connect me with people.

Those people have helped me not only in business but with mental health.

LN: What I love about your friends is that they come here, to your workspace/studio/apt and hang out.

So you get to work and see your friends and they seem to get that.

LN: You seem to have a solid core of friends and they are all men.

RC: OMG I am so glad you noticed!

LN: How hard is it to be a full time artist and maintain your friendships?

RC: Squad has been squad since the 4th grade. These are people that I don’t even call my friends anymore, they are much more. I can go a month without talking to these niggas and all they would think is “Rocio is in the zone.” Art or business in general is going to interfere with your friendships and you just have to take that L sometimes. The people who fuck with you will be there. My friends are very understanding.

Whether I am painting or having a mental breakdown,

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RC: They just let me work. I have been in a trance this last year where I just can’t stop working. It’s freaking me out. It’s awesome but it’s freaking me out and my friends are there to take me out of that sometimes. Even if its just by having another body in my studio. It helps.

LN: You seem to be getting attention on your art, more followers online and money from your own productions. How has it been seeing some progress and rewards with your art at this point in time?

RC: It’s awesome and then it gives me anxiety. I am now buying really weird shit online. I bought a barbie today, bitch. Like a barbie that I loved as a little girl. I just want to keep making money right now but money in my pocket makes me anxious and stresses me out.

I am happier as a broke person.

photo credit/rocio cabrera

LN: Something you spoke about on your IG story a while back was about your frustrations with random online folks that wanted to know how you did your work and where you bought your materials. Why does people asking you these things bother you?

RC: Ugh. It is still happening. I am a dick and I try my hardest to not come off as an asshole. When I was younger, I wish I would have had someone to ask these questions to, but I didn’t and I have spent so much time and money looking for the cheapest route, finding my style as an artist and when people who don’t even know me have the balls to DM me and its not even like, “Whats’ up?” its just cut and dry like “Where do you get your prints done? Where do you do this or how do you think this?” and its like I didn’t start my art and business to help anyone else’s hustle.

day but right now, I am trying to figure it out. I don’t have time to answer DMs about other people trying to figure it out.

LN: I respect that and I feel like that is where your unapologetic nature comes from. Its hard for other people to put themselves first. Which creative medium would you love to pursue next?

RC: I want to make dolls, yo. I want a manufacturing company and to make the next poppin’ barbie. If BRATZ and Tim Burton had a baby, that baby would be my doll.

LN: What’s your favorite thing you’ve ever created?

RC: EVER?!

LN: Yes.

LN: But you are helping others in a way. For example, the “cute shorties” as you call them, that buy your earrings are always loving themselves and posting selfies on social media with your stuff on. You are affecting your clients and fans in a positive way.

RC: I know but I just want it to be me first. You know?

Let me make my first million and then I might go back and like teach a class. WHO *CLAPS* KNOWS *CLAPS* BITCH?! I might even be an inspirational speaker one

RC: DAMN. I don’t knoooooow. I become obsessed with things. First I was obsessed with painting, then I thought I wanted to make jewelry for the rest of my life. I am making bongs right now too and they got me so fucked up because I just love making them. My favorite piece, I don’t have it right now, but it was a pastel piece I made with a smiley face that says “Ima be aight”. That piece has got me through so much.

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dope LN: What are you hoping to communicate with your art?

RC: I just want people to do it. You can’t be afraid to starve a little bit. Don’t get it twisted though, I live with my parents and its not like I’m ever really starving but like a bitch can’t even get on the train sometimes and I can’t eat what I want to eat sometimes but it is worth it. To see yourself grow is worth it. I get high off of people buying my shit. And it a really good feeling to believe in yourself and follow your dreams. People have got to stop playing games because we are getting older every second.

LN: You live with your parents and your art is quite provocative. How do you make it work?

RC: I used to keep my nude self portraits hidden from them and one time I had an art show and invited them out. My pieces were HUGE and in this particular one, I was tied up with a rosary on and fully naked. My dad just said, “This is dope”. I was like WTF? I been keeping this from you guys forever and you love it? My parents are the bomb. My dad is an artist and started painting 6 months ago. He is my hero. I don’t know if he is still here. I don’t want him to hear all this shit. *laughs* LN: Who are the top 3 artists that influence your work?

RC: I try my hardest not to look at other people’s art. I mean, a bitch doesn’t even go to the museum. And I know it’s important to know what’s going on but I am afraid of influences. But, I would have to say, Tim Burton, My Little Pony and BRATZ dolls.

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photo credit/rocio cabrera

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LN: What’s a day in the life like?

RC; I worked 14 hours yesterday so I don’t know what my schedule is really like but, I wake up at 11am which sounds like some bum shit but I do it every day and then I work until about 8pm, then I eat an edible and continue to work until 2am then I go to sleep. My boyfriend comes in and out for dinner sometimes too. I work all day.

LN: Life advice to young emerging artists?

RC: Copyright your shit. All my shit is copyrighted. I’ve been sitting here for months just waiting for someone to play me. Copyrights are the way to go.

LN: Whats on your playlist when you work?

RC: Kanye, Kid Cudi, Travis Scott. OH, and I was at this market the other day and I met this artist his name is Tokumbo. His music made me cry! Please go find him on iCloud. +

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art

art bae rocio cabrera fights misogyny one canvas at a time by maria rodriguez-morales BRILLA MARIA RODRIGUEZ-MORALES: Who is Rocio Rocky Cabrera?

ROCIO CABRERA: A 23yr old Dominican artist from the Bronx MRM: When did you decide to pursue your art?

RC: To be perfectly honest, I’m not really sure. Art was never a decision for me. It’s what feels natural. It’s the easiest way for me to get my points across (and always has been).

MRM: When did you get your first big break?

RC: I’d say my first big break was last year when Tim Reid purchased one of my self-portraits. If that name doesn’t ring a bell that’s totally Tia and Tamera’s dad on Sister, Sister. I guess… that’s not as cool as it would’ve been 15 years ago but its still really cool to me. (I think that’s pretty cool too)

t bae MRM: What mediums are used when creating?

RC: I use a lot of different mediums. It honestly only depends on what’s available to me at the moment.

Sometimes a girl can’t afford paint. Sometimes I’ll find some old pastels in my dirty closet. I like to use a lot of different things.

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MRM: Who are your muses? What inspires you?

RC: I am inspired by honesty. I think there’s a lot of strength in honesty, even if it’s about being upfront with your weakness and faults as a human. I’m enthused by those who are powerful enough to love themselves despite their weakness. I’d like to think of myself as my own muse. Somedays (not as often as I’d like) I wake up and am inspired by my own beauty as a human being. I really want my art to be able to make people feel the same about themselves.

MRM: Although your artwork has a whimsical effect it is very political in theme. How do you characterize your art?

RC: I’d like to think there’s an overall theme of girl power. Embracing and celebrating every aspect of yourself; despite the opinions of others. There is nothing wrong with loving who you are or with the ways in which you do that.

MRM: Women have reached a crossroad where we are demanding autonomy of our bodies. Your art seeks to dismantle patriarchal ideologies. Can you explain?

RC: I’m very tired of my body being viewed as only a sexual object. I am an extremely sexual person but there are hundreds of other amazing things my body is responsible for. My art celebrates ownership of your own body and the freedom for you to express that any way that you’d like.

MRM: Art is subjective in nature. How do you handle negative criticism and the folks that “just don’t get it”?

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RC: There’s always going to be folks that don’t get it. Especially when it comes to artwork. I feel no need to explain myself to people. As an artist, I really don’t think that’s my job. Whether my art makes you feel the way I wanted it to isn’t the goal…

I just hope it makes you feel something. If that something turns out to be negative, I’m just glad I sparked something in you.

MRM: What would you like people to know about you as an artist?

RC: It’s currently my only mode of receiving income and I would love if you checked some of my stuff out!

MRM: What have you learned along the way?

us

RC: I’ve learned that we all go through very similar feelings during the human experience. A lot of which we aren’t very comfortable admitting. The more honest I am about my feelings (whether I’m scared of them being considered trivial or stupid) the more people are able to connect with my art. It is my job as an artist to express the things a lot of people find difficult to say out loud.

MRM: What advice would you give an aspiring artist?

RC: Make what you know.

MRM: Famed Writer, Alice Walker has said; “If art doesn’t make us better, then what on earth is it for.” How has art shaped who you are as a person?

RC: Art has been such a blessing for me. It’s able to relieve me of a lot of stress and anxiety that I didn’t know how to deal with for a very long portion of my life. It has also brought me closer to a lot of people who can relate to the issues I try and portray through my art.

MRM: What’s next for you?

RC: Hopefully more solo shows! + photo credit/rocio cabrera

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an interview with unapologetic artist, rocio marie

april 13, 2017

by kiara cristina ventura PROCESSA X THE ECSTATIC formerly ArtsyWindow x The Experience Magazine Kiara Cristina Ventura: So we are here with the beautiful Rocio, in her actual house with the fancy ass pillows.

Rocio Cabrera: With my pillows that you are not allowed to sit on but my mom’s not here right now. So we’re gonna sit on them today.

KCV: Sorry, mom. So we are here and this is a collab with ArtsyWindow and The Experience Magazine, and let’s get to it!

And this is also for the women’s issue of The Ecstatic.

RC: Yasss.

photo credit/rocio cabrera

KCV: Alright, so please introduce yourself.

RC: Word, I’m Rocio, I’m twenty-fucking-four, unfortunately, now, at this point in my life, and I live in the Bronx, and I make things with my hands. That’s about it.

KCV: How would you describe your art?

RC: Dang. I don’t know, I guess pop-y? Color is really important to me. It’s really vibrant, glittery, rhinestone-y. Creepy sometimes.

There’s a lot of themes of feminism in my pieces and emotional girls. Honestly, I think everything that I draw or even everything that I sculpt is me, even if they don’t really look like me they start off as me, so that’s primarily why they’re all girls. And I think girls are just funner to paint and draw than dudes. I don’t know why but dudes bore me when I’m painting. Sorry guys.

ree

KCV: Your art has a certain style to it. I feel like if I were to see it somewhere in a museum I would be like, ‘that’s Rocio’s art.’

I don’t even have to look at the name.

RC: Thank you. That’s dope, I appreciate that a lot.

KCV: So how did you develop your style?

RC: I guess as a little girl, things that would make me self-conscious. I have a bigger nose or my big hair and things that would bother me I draw out. And at first my girls started off really ugly and creepy and they were Tim Burton-y and like Courage the Cowardly Dog almost, and they were ugly but then eventually it just became part of my style, I feel. All my girls have similar lips and big eyes and big noses and I feel like they’re all self-portraits. So, I guess I developed my own style through my own insecurities as a little girl.

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KCV: I know you focus on being emotional and connecting to yourself…

RC: Yeah, I’m a mess.

KCV: …So are there certain experiences that you went through in life that kind of inspired you to put that out in your art? I hope that’s not uncomfortable.

RC: We getting deep now, yeah it’s fine! So there was this one situation that I went through in life where I was with somebody and for some reason – they were great to me, they were perfect or at least they seemed perfect – but I couldn’t feel emotionally connected to them in any way. And I wanted to really bad. And that’s something that I struggled with for a long time and I felt really guilty about. Not being in control of your own emotions is something that’s really frustrating and you feel a little crazy. In some of my pieces there’s girls with devil horns a lot and that represents me feeling guilty, me not being

able to give somebody the love that I think they deserve just because I couldn’t feel it for myself.

So, I spent a lot of time, a lot of years feeling evil and feeling guilty for not being able to reciprocate that emotion. But art helped a lot.

KCV: You go into your emotional side in your art, and you put that out. What are the main messages you want to send out to your audience or people who buy your art?

RC: I just feel like, I have said this before, but I feel like we all feel like shit sometimes, you know what I mean? And some people are better at hiding that than others but to be human is to feel like shit like sixty percent of the time if you’re lucky. And I just think my art is very honest about that and seeing it maybe can be healing or at least make you feel like you’re not alone. My art is colorful and sparkly, and feeling like shit can be beautiful, sort of. Or cute and colorful and sparkly.

photo credit/rocio cabrera

gli

photo credit/rocio cabrera

ter KCV: I think this also goes with your presence on social media as well, because I was talking to Jason, founder of The Experience Magazine…

RC: Shoutout to Jason!

KCV: Shoutout to the Experience Mag! I was telling Jason when he told me that I was gonna interview you, I was just telling him, ‘Oh my god, Rocio!’ because I think I admire you and a lot of people admire you because you’re real.

RC: I hope so, yo!

KCV: And you don’t hide shit. If you’re feeling a certain way you can put that out there and not feel guilty or not feel the need to put a mask on and put on a happy face.

RC: I appreciate it, thanks. It’s not a choice, though. I feel like no artist can really just hide shit, you know

what I mean? It’s like a weakness, like you gotta fucking get it out.

KCV: Where do you see yourself, where do you wanna be?

RC: Okay, so you remember the Hello Kitty store on 42nd street, have you ever been there?

KCV: Yeah, yeah!

RC: Dude, it’s fucking amazing. Hello Kitty toasters, like everything. So rather than just being an artist or being a painter I want to be a brand and I want my art to be on absolutely everything. I’d like you to buy every home appliance or I want wallpaper, I want blankets. I want to come out with my own glitter line or my own line of paint, like the colors that I really fuck with. I just really wanna run shit.

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style

'mad,' rocio cabrera

KCV: If you could sit with another sister who was going through something, who doesn’t have confidence in her work or her art or is just feeling down, what would you tell her?

RC: You need to find yourself. My advice would be stop looking at other artists to be honest, and I don’t even know if that’s good advice, but every time I’m feeling stuck I isolate myself.

Because if you look at other places for inspiration you end up looking like other people, you know what I mean? I get really sad when people compare my work to other artists, as crazy as that sounds. And I feel like the best way or the fastest way to make money is to find your thing when it comes to art. Come up with your own style or something you really enjoy doing so you can continue doing it. +

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paint paintings 'intuition,' rocio cabrera

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nting 'protected,' rocio cabrera

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'sensitive,' rocio cabrera

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'sweetheart,' rocio cabrera

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'who you are,' rocio cabrera

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'smokey babe,' rocio cabrera

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earr earrings

'tooth fairy,' rocio cabrera

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'potluvs,' rocio cabrera

'big comfy couch,' rocio cabrera

ring 'rainbow,' rocio cabrera

'slime season studs,' rocio cabrera

'deadass talk bubble,' rocio cabrera

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neck Necklaces

'rocio's room,' rocio cabrera

'acab,' rocio cabrera

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klac 'rainbow reign,' rocio cabrera

'play date,' rocio cabrera

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cloth clothes

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'limited edition custom stoner bae shirt,' rocio cabrera

thes 'rhinestone banana crop top,' rocio cabrera

'portal chain top,' rocio cabrera

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ri

tori wheeler

they/them @special_funeral

toriwheeler.com

photo credit/kate shannon

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about the artist

about

Tori Wheeler is a multidisciplinary designer and strategist who loves to design objects, experiences, spaces, printed things, small things, big things, things with words, things you can wear, and things that make life better. Recently, Tori’s self-guided rug-making practice – hand-tufted, functional artworks you can feel with your feet – exemplifies the tactile nature of their work with electrifying colors and organic shapes. The same neon colors and interactive quality strikingly lend themselves to their jewelry fabrication practice.

photo credit/tori wheeler

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adapted from toriwheeler.com

student profile: tori wheeler

april 4, 2016

by kris lee MICA Tori Wheeler is a visiting student from the Kansas City Art Institute. This spring they are studying abroad at MICA. Welcome Tori!

KL: What brought you to be interested in design?

'thesis,' tori wheeler

TW: I grew up using the computer, and taught myself basic coding and animation when I was in middle school. As a teenager I worked primarily analog, developing film in the darkroom and illustrating. My foundations classes at KCAI definitely taught me to think in new ways, and I realized I loved developing concepts and creating work rooted in meaning. I discovered quickly, however, that I preferred exploring ideas that weren’t extremely personal, and that I thrived with deadlines.

KL: How do you like the community at MICA? Is there a difference between here and your school back home?

'thesis,' tori wheeler

TW: Everyone I’ve met has been so kind and inclusive. I’ve made friends that I know I will keep in touch with long after I head home! Size is the biggest difference between MICA and KCAI. I have my own studio space in KC, which I definitely miss, but I take all of my major classes with the eleven other juniors studying graphic design. I’m happy to get a variety of criticism on my work here at MICA. KL: What is your favorite thing about Baltimore so far?

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TW: The music scene in Baltimore rules; I’ve seen some killer queer/electro/hiphop. Karaoke at The Crown.

KL: Are there any particular artists/designers who you admire? Do any of them influence your own work?

TW: I’m currently a big fan of Ben Duvall, (http://bduvall.com) I designed a poster summarizing and connecting his theories about postmodern design in his essay, “Striving For Imperfection,” part of his book, New Modernism(s). His work is is highly conceptual and political and still manages to be playful and casual.

I strive to bring elements of contemporary art and theory into my design work, something that Ben Duvall does well. I also recently discovered Marta Veludo, (http://www.martaveludo.com) an Amsterdam-based designer and art director. She brings her fresh, fun style to both commercial and creative cultural projects. + 'thesis,' tori wheeler

URL URL

URL was a jewelry brand that recognizes young people exist both digitally and physically.

'url,' tori wheeler

'url,' tori wheeler

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'url,' tori wheeler

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'url,' tori wheeler

rugs rugs...

'angel rock,' tori wheeler

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s... 'wildepool,' tori wheeler

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'tidepool,' tori wheeler

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'oranges,' tori wheeler

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'melt,' tori wheeler

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'liquid spill,' tori wheeler

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rugs rugs,

'twin lobsters,' tori wheeler

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s, 'la boeuf,' tori wheeler

'discount parrotfish,' tori wheeler

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& mo & more rugs!

'portal 1,' tori wheeler

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ore r 'fuzzy dice,' tori wheeler

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‘stay’, rocio cabrera