CAMPO Benefit Auction 2023

My work assesses the life of humans and the connection to the life of materials. My work is made with materials that are commonly used to build and to repair homes. In order to achieve the texture of my paintings, I mimic the process of material disintegration. I make large scale works that appear heavy but are light - - as a way to study how humans respond to illusions, as well as to study the agency of materiality. To me, illusions represent the energy that moves the created structure of human existence.
My interest in studying behavior of humans began when I taught literacy to children and adolescents at the Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico reformatory center which was before I moved to the USA. In California, I have been providing psychotherapy services to various age groups, non-profit institutions, schools, and counseling centers. This led me to wonder “Do we exist to experience pain and suffering in order to gain the pleasure of existence?”
In order to seek an answer to this question, my art practice explores the language of materiality. Materials speak a mute language. This silence helps me to seek answers to the suffering in human existence.

Bio
Rafael Bustillos is originally from Sinaloa, Mexico and he is currently a Rood Division studio artist. Rafael has a Psychotherapy practice and he works primarily with families, children, and adolescents.  And, he is currently working as a preschool educator at the Russian Hill School in San Francisco, California.  He has practiced internationally by helping adolescents around the world providing services to children and adolescents in Milan, Italy, Paris, and London.  He studied Psychology at Saint Mary’s College of California –receiving Undergraduate and Masters degrees, and he attained a MFA at the San Francisco Art Institute.  

rafaelbustillos.com
@parrebustillos