About
Juan Patino
I come from a very simple time. When I first starting on my path towards becoming a visual artist, we had to use a mirror to do a self portrait, or draw from life. The computer was reserved for typing papers and photography was considered the medium for journalists and advertising. Then in college while pursuing my BFA, Graphic Design began to grow and the computer started to gain more support from my fellow illustrators, but I resisted. I stuck to my paints, pencils, and printmaking materials. Afterwards, when I entered the workforce as a graphic artist, I sat for hours on end in front of a computer screen. During all that time, I realized I needed to still create, and since I was already sitting in front of this new tool, I might as well use it. Six years later the world is a much different place. The art object still has it’s place, but the forms that are created and multiplied and mass produced by anyone with the right software has not diminished the importance of ideas, but allowed them to flourish to unprecedented levels. I believe that now my work has to help create the final legs of a cycle that will bring these data driven devices back into the physical world. Digital work in a physical sphere is where that can happen. I have a traditional heart at my core, but looking towards the future and its possibilities is where you can find true innovation. That is where I currently see myself headed with my work and what I want to on.
