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MLove: Let me first start out by thanking you for this opportunity to research your mind and current projects.  Your art is dope!  So what goes through your mind in approaching these masterpieces?

Carlos: First let me say thank you and I’m glad you like my work.

What goes through my mind when I start a new piece?..hmm..well…from a technical standpoint I would say It’s always different when I start a new piece. Some of the time I start drawing and the image starts to appear before the meaning does. Often what I do is write ideas down as a word or a phrase or I write poems that may inspire a piece. Other times I hear a phrase or read a passage in the Bible which is the basis for all my thoughts for all the images that I make. So I guess in the end I would say that what goes through my mind is my faith in Christ and that I can’t stop talking about it. My biggest pleasure is being able to share my faith through my work and then to speak of it..

MLove: Ok, ok… Being that your foundation of creativity is the Word, how do you then translate modern day lifestyles since many think it is ancient and has no weight in today’s society?

Vocations

Carlos: Weight is a good word. I feel that some people are so weighed down by the cares of life and their own guilt of the way they live their life that they may say that the Word has no weight. It’s a way for them to make themselves feel better about their lives and pacify their guilt. If there’s no truth then they have nothing to feel guilty about. The thing is is that God only wants to show them that He has paid the price with Christ for our sins and lifestyle failures and there is no guilt necessary.

I think peoples idea of God and Jesus are antiquated, not God.  Jesus is fresh and always applicable to any time because God is timeless. People need to be better informed and it is up to us who have been exposed or I should say privileged to have accepted the truth of Christ by His grace to live right and speak of God and Christ for our generation. We should speak of God and Jesus in what we do well whatever that may be. Whether it is the arts ,business or science.

I address current issues which really aren’t anything new. The things going on today are the same things that have gone on in the past. They are just active in different settings.

MLove: Your pieces at glance, look very dark.  I know my husband gets a lot of prejudgments on his past in his artwork, how about you?  Where does the inspiration to create light in darkness come from?

Sidewinders

Carlos: Well the contrast of light and darkness is very apparent for anyone who has had a born again experience.

Adolescence

For me personally I had always felt a “calling” of some sort but it was never really clear until I was older. I didn’t have some dark life before committing my life to God even though I grew up in east Los Angeles. My brother and I managed to stay out of trouble. I just wanted to know more. It all came to a head when I met my wife who was a born again Christian. I started asking real questions about God that the Catholic church could not answer. I wanted to know more about Jesus Himself and about his story. Philosophy was getting weaker and weaker to me. Ideas of good living felt empty. Purpose for life and understanding of who and why we are was becoming the issue in my mind. I just had a need to know more about God. It’s logical. So I started to read the bible myself to see if there was anything in there that would help me to understand. One day I came to the passage that spoke of blaspheming the Holy Spirit and that it was the only unforgivable sin.
I sat there thinking to myself and wondering if I had ever done that and was a little afraid that maybe I had done it when all of a sudden I felt something take me over. I felt as if God dipped his finger into my heart made it alive and took every care off my shoulders in a second. I felt like I was physically floating (I wasn’t but it sure felt like it.) I fell onto the floor shaking and crying completely understanding that I was being visited by God. My first true prayer that day was ” I just want to serve you”. This is an extremely abbreviated version of what went on that day. From that day on my life was never the same.

Vices

I don’t get any prejudgments of me personally but I do get the “Oh My” this imagery is so scary I can’t look at it (very funny). That being said once I explain the piece and it’s meaning to people they come around to really and truly liking it.

About the work itself. I like contrasts and if you are a true artist you create the imagery that comes out of you. You don’t try for something as much as you can’t help but to make what comes out. The effort is in the idea of what the image is going to be and what medium to use or how you render the piece but not the actual style of the elements or the environment. True art is straight from the mind or heart….
As far as the work looking dark..well. Since the world we live in has darkness in it because it’s away from God generally speaking, I think when one shows that aspect or contrast the viewer is shocked or taken aback by what is being exposed. There’s a piece I made titled “We thought we were right” which is all about the very reaction.

MLove: Wow!  I always find it amazing to hear the stories people have when they come to the Lord without necessarily being told to accept Christ or to read the Bible.  A heart that truly seeks for the truth will be answered and this is a prime example!  What reaction or expression has your work evoked from your audience that sticks out in your memory?  Have you ever felt pressure to create something you didn’t personally feel led to create?

Carlos: You know I never feel pressure to make certain kinds of images any more. When I was a student in high school I did and often…but as an adult or I should say professional I don’t give attention to the trends or tastes of the masses. Most of those are driven by galleries anyway. I have a day job so can afford to say this and be this way. (heh)
That being said I get various reactions to my work. In the United States it’s even difficult to be different than the different crowd. I don’t really think my work fits into any particular slot. ..I’ve had trouble trying to get my work  accepted with art galleries or art magazine crowds. They say like to show different work that is counter culture but what they’re really saying is they want something cool and counter culture that looks like the stuff that they have on the wall. My stuff isn’t babyhead art. I feel for the two guys who set that style up because everyone is ripping them off and that’s all the galleries want to show. So it’s difficult to get exposure. That being said the responses are generally very very positive. With the exception of some people getting scared and some responses from galleries. But again generally very very positive. The interesting thing is that my buyers are usually girls who are buying my images for their husbands..My most recent buyers are all Christians..which is surprising but very cool.

Rebellion

MLove: I hear ya on gallery representation; I have found much of it is politics and pleasing the audience more than speaking your own individual artistic mindset which unfortunately weeds out a lot of creative individuality.  So how do you create your art aesthetically and what do you want your art to do in society?

Carlos: I’ve just been exposed to a couple of Documentaries on the current gallery scene in New York and the world really but mainly New York and whoa….yeah I uh…yeah .Whether or not art is represented has got nothing to do with how good the art is really but everything to do with some art dealers who own pieces and need to sell them. The price hiking at the big art auctions and all that is diabolical.

But to answer your question..
You know the aesthetics are just what comes out.That kind of imagery has a history from me looking and absorbing for many many years..if your asking me how I get an image out? I can tell you it’s different for every piece. Sometimes I write a word or title. Sometimes I sketch a thumbnail on paper or on my iphone these days in “Brushes” or “art studio”. I can e-mail those images to myself and copy them over to a computer and print them out or just refine and even finish them in “Painter”….To answer the second part of your question..I guess I would like to speak of my faith and my heritage. I would like to matter as an artist but that’s all up to the patrons out there…

MLove: Can you tell our artist viewers about your process of creating your pieces?

Carlos:Yeah it’s different for every piece….I drew most on paper first,.then scanned the image at whatever stage i felt it needed to be.. and continued on in “Painter”…some were sketched in acrylics or watercolor to near finish…One is painted on masonite (and pretty big.. 48″ tall) before I scanned it..it was pretty interesting scanning that beast of a painting……..It’s all mixed media though…..just so they know it’s all in my book “Monstruo”

MLove: Readers-Make sure you cop his books click here. So what are you currently working on and what can we expect in the future of Carlos Huante?

Carlos and his work

Carlos: I am working on my 3rd book (“Blind Spot”) which is a catalog of all the prints sold on my site.I am getting new pieces together (Drawings and sculptures) for future shows which could be very cool(for me. hopefully for everyone else). There are quite a few irons in the fire right now. I am also currently waiting to start back up on Ridley Scott’s Alien Prequel which I’ve been working on since December of last year. The future of things for me as an artist is “who Knows”  but like I said there are many things happening right now, some of which I don’t want to speak of in detail yet but are very exciting new frontiers. I will say that one is a new media project (which might involve music) that I’ve created for myself.

I feel very privileged to be able to work in every media and able to express myself in all of them. I acknowledge that I have been given the gifts I posses and am very grateful for them. I always want to thank God in Heaven for them. That through them I may express my gratitude for my salvation by speaking of Yeshua (Jesus) and God’s grace.

MLove: Thank you Carlos for a very candid and personal  insight into your work.  We truly appreciate it and look forward to your future greatness!

Find out more about Carlos at:  galleryanatom.com