W
hen I started grad school there were all these people doing
research for their thesis. I was looking at a bunch of art magazines and
I found these renderings of windows with patterns, and that’s when it
hit me. Patterns! That’s what I was doing as a kid. And with my love
of nature I combined the two and took off in that direction. At the time
though, everybody was doing abstract art and here I was doing my
jungles. Everybody in grad school was laughing at me saying, “If we
want to see animals we’ll go to the zoo!” So, for a while, I tried to do
what the school wanted me to but it never felt right.
M.J.: What got you back on track?
Arreguin: I was working as a waiter in a Mexican restaurant when
one of the professors, Elmer Bischoff asked me, “What were you doing
before grad school? I’d like to see.” I tried to say no but he kept at me.
So I invited him to my place to see some of my drawings and paintings
and he said, “Why did you change? You really don’t know what you’re
doing, do you?” And I said, “I really don’t.”
He challenged me saying, “Then go back to painting what really
matters to you!” But I was afraid. I told him, “If I go back to doing
this they’ll flunk me.” So he said, “Let me ask you a question.
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ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE