Art I and sculpture teacher, Joaquin Soto, showcases an art exhibit in the Creative Arts Center of Dallas. The exhibit, “13 Years in the Shadows,” consists of 13 sculptures made of scrap metal. With these sculptures, Soto tells the story of his childhood and growing up afraid.
Being an artist requires seeing the beauty in all aspects of life. Observing beauty in the world and being inspired is a key part of the art process, and Soto’s main drive for creating art is wanting to inspire others.
“My inspiration for becoming an artist was wanting to tell a story. I feel like I have a gift to create something and have someone look at it and hopefully be inspired. I want to inspire people to want them to express themselves. Hopefully they can kind of see something similar in my work, and hopefully something speaks to them in that way,” said Soto.
Beyond motivation, most artists have a catalyst that ignites their passion for art. Soto’s journey to becoming an artist started in high school after a school field trip.
“I started doing art in my senior year in high school. I took a field trip to the UTA art facility with my school’s Art Club and saw the possibilities that were there after high school,” said Soto.
The purpose of an art exhibit is to tell a story in a creative way. They often follow a theme and are created for a specific idea. Soto’s exhibit, “13 Years in the Shadows,” is based on his childhood memories and experiences.
“My art is a collection of memories from my childhood. So all of my artwork is based on images or symbols that I had growing up, a lot of memories, family, a lot of upbringing and culture. I created this exhibit to raise awareness of some of the struggles I went through, and that others could relate to,” said Soto.
There are many mediums for art, such as oil paints, graphite pencils, and clay. Deciding what medium to use is an important part of the creative process. Soto chooses metal as his medium to create large and intricate sculptures.
“Metal is easy to work with and is the most reliable and sturdiest way to get my visions from my mind to the real world for me,” said Soto.
Art can be challenging to make, taking time, dedication, and resources. To get artwork displayed, Soto had to work day and night, balancing his teaching career and artistic creation.
“The show currently has 13 pieces, and it took me about a month and a half, almost two months, to create it and have it ready. I work after school, so I’ll teach during the day, and then in the evenings, go home and work in my studio up until 10 or 11 at night. So it was just a lot of hours of working alone and welding and creating stuff,” said Soto.
Creating the physical art pieces wasn’t the only step in building the art exhibit. Soto also had to apply for a spot in the Creative Arts Center of Dallas.
“I applied for a residency program at the Creative Arts Center, and they accepted me with the residency. They gave out a solo show, so I had a chance to create artwork and then display it at their gallery,” said Soto.
After all this hard work, the most exciting part of having an exhibit starts as the art is shared. Soto enjoyed showing his exhibit and talking to viewers about it.
“It was good to share my life and inspiration and see how others related in their own way. I’m proud that people get to enjoy and find their own interpretations in the works I do,” said Soto.
Art exhibits require a significant amount of time and energy to create, and Soto’s biggest challenge was a lack of that.
“The biggest challenge for me was to get the energy and motivation, working here at school for eight hours, going home and being tired. There were some times where I just didn’t want to work on stuff, but I had to, because I had a deadline. It’s mainly just energy and motivation,” said Soto.
One way Soto overcomes this challenging lack of motivation is to pull inspiration from past ideas.
“When it comes to motivation, the best way to motivate yourself is to have a collection of ideas in your sketchbook. Sometimes, when I’m not feeling something, I just open my sketchbook and get some ideas through that,” said Soto.
Being an artist of any kind is difficult, and Soto’s biggest piece of advice to help this struggle is to find a meaning for your artwork.
“Biggest advice will be to find a message in your work. The best work that I’ve done has had some sort of message or meaning behind it, and to me, that’s easier for me to work on, because then I feel like I have a purpose with it. So just work on finding a message that your work can kind of go for,” said Soto.
Joaquin Soto, creator of “13 Years in the Shadows,” is a metal sculpture artist. Inspiration and motivation play a huge role in his creative process as he creates artwork with deep meaning and personal connection, all the while hoping to inspire others to create artwork of their own.