It may sound small, but I aim to bring beauty to all my collector’s lives. I think I owe it to the world, as an artist, to contribute both beauty and quality. For that reason, I dislike overproduction, and put my absolute best into every piece. Also, as soon as I am able, it is my dream to establish an internship or scholarship for young creatives in my home city. In Spain, we haven’t really recovered from the 2008 economic crash, and there is a lot of talent that deserves support. I’m looking forward to bringing opportunities back to Spain in the future, and helping to lift up the next generation.
As a part of our series about “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became An Artist” I had the pleasure of interviewing MAESTRO
MAESTRO is a hyper realistic, black-and-white artist based in Santa Barbara, California. Originally from Valencia, Spain, MAESTRO received technical training from the Stuart Weitzman School of Design before beginning a dynamic career as a visual artist and architect. MAESTRO has worked for firms such as the Bjarke Ingels Group (B.I.G.) and had artistic collaborations with many LA-based creatives, including DOPEHAUS STUDIO and NeueHouse Hollywood. His work has been shown, among other venues, at the Charles Addams Fine Arts Gallery, the :iidrr Gallery in Manhattan, Graffiti Library in Los Angeles, The Victorian in Santa Monica, Just Another Gallery in Philadelphia, and the Sullivan Goss gallery in Santa Barbara. His first solo exhibition, “LOADING” will open at the HOMME Gallery in Washington D.C. on April 3rd, 2025.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
Thank you for having me! I grew up on the eastern coast of Spain in a city called Valencia. From a very young age, I was visiting art museums, riding my bike past the Puerta de Serranos — the remains of my city’s 700-year-old fortress — and sailing on the Mediterranean sea. It might sound romantic, but in Europe beauty is everywhere; you don’t need to be especially wealthy to access it. My father was a painter who held many jobs, and my mother is a respected doctor, so I inherited a good balance of practicality and dreaming.
When I was sixteen, I secretly applied for a scholarship to study in the United States and ended up in California — where I met my future wife. I then went back to Europe, where I trained and worked as an architect, but I was always traveling to the US. I got married in 2021, and officially immigrated shortly thereafter.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
People always told me I had a talent for drawing, but I didn’t seriously consider it until I was an adult. As I mentioned, my father was an artist but he always had other jobs, so I never imagined that it could be a profession in itself. I became an architect for the same reasons I am now an artist: I was attracted to beauty, simplicity, and elegance. My mother and I would walk through the city together, and I would stare up at the buildings.
I started transitioning from architecture to art shortly after arriving in the US, as both a meditative practice and as a way to escape the limitations of municipal regulations, and client preferences. Art for me is both peace and creative freedom.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Somehow, through the magic of social media, I got into contact with the CEO of a company whose software is central to my architecture practice. I ended up producing a commissioned art piece for this person, meeting them in LA, and discussing creative opportunities. This experience for me was really wild and inspiring — it taught me that behind every immense enterprise is a creative person who started out just as I did. I’ve had a few similar experiences since then, and they always reiterate for me the power of connection that we have with social media. It isn’t a perfect system — there is a lot wrong with it — but it enables the average person to achieve a kind of reach that would have once seemed impossible.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
I’m in the final stage of preparing my first solo show at the HOMME gallery in Washington D.C., so that’s been really exciting! One of the focal points of that show is a series I call “Gazing” which features the pixelated eyes of various iconic women. I see it as something of a challenge to the “male gaze” of contemporary media, but also a continuation of my interest in “looking” as a concept. My pixelated art invites scrutiny, but frustrates our mind’s attempts to make it whole — I’m always playing with perspectives in one way or another.
Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?
There’s been quite a few at this point, but some of my favorite interactions have been with extremely successful people who either expressed support or took a chance on my work early on. For example, someone who has worked as a writer and producer on shows like South Park and Bob’s Burgers reached out to me at the start of my art career and asked for a commission. On the day I delivered the finished piece, I spent the morning taking promotional photos in front of the Hollywood Sign, and we met in the parking lot of an iconic LA restaurant to exchange the work. It was all very dreamy and surreal. Also, I met the creator of Phineas & Ferb at an event where I was a guest artist. We chatted a bit about creativity and how it feels to take a chance on your own ideas — especially when no one else will. My wife has a lot of siblings and they grew up watching the show, so she thought that was incredibly cool.
Where do you draw inspiration from? Can you share a story about that?
My art features iconic moments and subjects of popular culture, so history is really my greatest source. I try to stay as connected as I can to contemporary movements, but I am ultimately most interested in images or figures who will stand the test of time. My first pixelated piece ever was a “loading” frame from 1928’s “Steamboat Willie” — an iconic moment in cartoon history — -but the first really large pixelation I made was of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.” Da Vinci is the kind of person whose work stands the test of time against all odds. His “Last Supper” was painted in such a way that it is a struggle to conserve, and yet it somehow survived the extreme violence of the 20th century. His work is “iconic” in a manner I view as similar to Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse for that reason — both continue to last. I’d love for someone to commission a pixelated piece of “The Last Supper” someday. I haven’t attempted it yet, becausegiven the standard size of my pixels, it would be huge.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
It may sound small, but I aim to bring beauty to all my collector’s lives. I think I owe it to the world, as an artist, to contribute both beauty and quality. For that reason, I dislike overproduction, and put my absolute best into every piece. Also, as soon as I am able, it is my dream to establish an internship or scholarship for young creatives in my home city. In Spain, we haven’t really recovered from the 2008 economic crash, and there is a lot of talent that deserves support. I’m looking forward to bringing opportunities back to Spain in the future, and helping to lift up the next generation.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started”.
1 . Invest in good quality materials. If you value your art, others will, too.
2 . If you want to be an artist that sells, try to make art that you would buy.
3 . Art should have something to say — it doesn’t need to shout, but it can’t be silent.
4 . Every opportunity is a door.
5 . Don’t compare, don’t resent, and don’t worry — the journey is its own reward.
If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I’d love for my work to be a part of a movement away from mass production towards craftsmanship and quality. There is so much noise and waste nowadays, and while that can sometimes be a product of the variety that makes life beautiful, there are ways we can collectively do more with less. I’m encouraged by the younger generation’s focus on underconsumption, as well as their push for us to invest in the skilled labor and creativity of human individuals, rather than assembly-line products. Again, there is a time and place for everything; mass-produced objects aren’t always bad, but I’d like to see the world head in a more minimalist direction.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why?
At this point in my life, probably Daniel Arsham and Rigoberta Bandini. They are both artists I admire, who have built unique, quality practices in their respective mediums. It would be great to sit down with them and hear how they did that, get advice, discuss potential collaborations, etc.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
I’m on Instagram at @yosoymaestro
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
MAESTRO: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became An Artist was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.