This week’s guest is the brilliant Mendezmendez, and his origin story starts in a small town in the Dominican Republic. I thought it was funny that he now lives in the Canary Islands, and previously at one point he was in NYC for a while, which is also an island. This man likes his islands!
Also, holy crap, I’m publishing on his birthday - that’s today! Happy returns, friend.
Now living in a small town that has a bit of tourism to keep folks busy socially, there aren’t a lot of other outlets. So it makes sense that Mendez found himself in online forums very early on. While he was drawing and painting early on, he ultimately found his chops doing digital design work, and this was bolstered by his discovery of online discussion groups.
The early days of graphic design were very different, and he has a story of working for very little, while taxed by the demands of clients. Relatable for most folks that went through the experience of being in a graphic design job, both as freelancers, or for corporate jobs.
Shifting to a more laid back pace, he pursued connections in online communities more, while leaning into making the kind of art that he wanted to focus on. After sharing his work in a music forum, he suddenly found himself on a path to making cover art for musicians.
Online communities around digital art really have given it footing, over and over again. From giving somebody from a small town access to the world, to connecting them with folks that end up defining a period of their work, these digital spaces are proof that creatives benefit greatly from building healthy connections.
On the topic of flow and methodology, Mendez has a relatively fluid, and chaotic approach to his work. As a collage artist, it sounds like he places a lot of elements together, and lets them “speak” to each other. The composition, elimination, and everything else follows from there. A very organic process indeed.
As time has gone by, he has definitely adapted and switched across different tools, and he has some insights on what happens when you can’t find what you need. You have to find the right tools that will let you create the right things for what you’re trying to achieve.
Speaking of tools, Mendez has joined into the world of AI assisted image generation, especially because it is incredibly helpful for creating assets he would otherwise have a hard time finding. What I like about his approach most is that he is using it as an assist for his work - it’s really just a logical step for the mixed media nature of his art style.
We nerd out a bit about what happens when you get up close into pixels with images, and touch on some technical aspects of image editing. It’s fascinating how AI creates, or stacks elements and meets their edges; it’s so different from what happens with photography, or generally manual image manipulation.
On the topic of intentionality, and communicating concepts, Mendez has a very casual approach. In his larger collections he has some unifying concepts and narratives, but ultimately he is drawn to surreal dream-like states. The bottom line with him is that he is just creating what he wants to create, and has no great goals of trying to change anybody’s perception of reality or anything like that.
Relatedly, he has a very organic approach to his expectations with his art, and how he would like to see it displayed/seen in the world. NFTs have changed so much for so many of us, and while it is changing the way we think about how our art can be viewed and experienced, most artists are generally focused on visibility in general.
Tune into the entire episode for some insights about what flow means for Mendez, and how we find Zen in different things. My hope is that other artists can find some inspiration in hearing artists like him talk about the importance, and relevance of finding your own style organically. Trends are problematic only if you prioritize them. Prioritize your intuition, and find your own style.
Check out Mendezmendez on Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe to his newsletter!
Next week, I will be changing things up again, and sharing my discussion with Rinko, a very down to earth individual in the crypto art world. His insights as both a collector, and supporter of the technology behind NFTs are worth hearing, especially if you want to get a perspective outside of us artists!
Transmission #32 - Mendezmendez