Rodrigo Oñate, a.k.a. Roco, marries the visual languages of graffiti, comics, and pop culture in his energetic paintings. Splitting his time between Chicago and Querétaro, Mexico, the artist works on walls and canvases, mish-mashing a flurry of characters along with simple patterns, squiggles, and the occasional surreal detail, like a gloved hand embedded with an eye.
Roco describes his process as entirely intuitive and almost like graffiti writing. “I throw some lines and from there. I start staging characters and elements adding textures and intricate forms,” he says. “I like movement and fluid forms, (and I’m) also always looking for a good balance of color and texture in the composition.”
Several cartoonish characters recur throughout the spirited works and often emerge from personal connections. Birds, for example, come from Roco’s mother telling him that the animals flocking to their family garden were ancestors visiting from another realm, while dogs mimic his three dogs.
Other creatures have broader symbolism, like the jaguars and large cats recalling the spiritual guides of Mexican mythology. And the primates? They’re included because they bring a sense of play and joy, the two feelings the artist hopes to convey with each work.
Prints and other goods are available in Roco’s shop, and you can find more on Instagram.
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