feature image: Roland Santana in studio, Photo: Aliya Haq.
By Linda Marcus
Roland Santana isn’t interested in perfection. The Chicago-based painter and mixed media artist embraces the unexpected whenever he creates. “I enjoy cracks. I love seeing what paint can do over time, how it ages, and the patina. It’s really awesome that the material can have a life of its own.”
Santana makes paintings, drawings, and mixed media works often from unconventional materials such as silicone, latex, and concrete. His knowledge and love of materials emanate from working with his dad in construction. Santana says his dad taught him the functionality of building materials and their aesthetic values. “Working with materials is a very humbling experience. It can teach you a lot. I see it almost as a religious practice, and it just teaches you so much about life.”
He says he didn’t really start making art until he went to school. “I was seeing it more like, maybe I can use it to say something and using it to express myself aesthetically and creatively,” And the more Santana worked with paint, the more he realized it’s potential. “As I progressed, I fell in love with the traditional, I fell in love with paint as a material and its history.”
The artwork Santana creates is dreamlike, with vibrant colors and textures which transport the viewer. “I think all art is spiritual. I think there’s a lot of mystery in it. I don’t think we know how to speak about it. It can open a lot of windows and doors to possibilities that we don’t think about. We are bombarded with a lot of ways to think and see but when you have that moment to think and to translate it to a canvas, it can work.” The vibrant colors in Santana’s work may at first sight appear joyous, but he says it’s much more complicated than that. “It may look joyous, but it could come from a place of struggle.”
Santana actively experiments in his studio. “I don’t keep the studio too safe. I’m always experimenting and risking or taking risks with materials. I take my time with works. I go back to old works. I can destroy it or keep going. It’s like building a puzzle. “And the sensation of working with paint, with or without a brush, or fingerpainting all adds to the creative experience, says Santana. “The role of the artist is to give them, the viewer, that experience of being the artist and lending them the brush and the tool to bring them closer to the experience.” And that idea of the experience extends even to the naming of his artwork by using Spanish to honors his Guatemalan and Bolivian heritage. Santana especially loves it when non-Spanish speakers try to pronounce the titles. “I love non-Spanish speakers attempt to say the titles. I like people getting out of their comfort zones. Titles are like Post It notes. It’s like a cool name and I post it up and then it’s a whole another art piece. The titling is another way of playing.”
Outsider art, fashion, his friends, and other non-traditional artists inspire Santana. He says, “I constantly want to shift and bounce and be a chameleon and go to different communities and try different mediums. It isn’t just painting, its music and sound. I think I’m a professional observer.”
Santana is interested in building bridges and creating community by creating opportunities for artists who have none. Santana created “Rupture,” an online visual artist directory listing of BIPOC artists in the Chicago area. He also regularly opens his studio to visitors and other artists. “It’s about giving it away. It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there to find enjoyment in opening spaces and providing opportunities for others.” But Santana embraces it fully. He says it’s all part of living an artist’s life. “I’m excited to continue this lifelong journey. It’s not always romantic. It’s about taking that step and seeing the world a lot bigger than you think it is, and it all starts with yourself, and if you let it, it can lead to those bigger questions you want answered.”
Visit rolandsantana.com to learn more and connect on Instagram at @iii.____.iii.
Roland Santana is published in Vol 39. Purchase a copy here.
Linda Marcus is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Drawing on her long history as a TV News journalist and fashion designer, her work in fiber and sculpture touch on issues of memory, identity, and materiality.
Marcus was recently awarded an art residency at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Wisconsin Art, the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber arts as well as the Charles Allis Museum and numerous galleries across the country and art publications. Currently, Marcus is the creative director and co-curator for the Saint Kate Arts hotel in Milwaukee.