Daily Inspiration: Meet Sienna Gonzales

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sienna Gonzales.

Hi Sienna, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My first original piece was a wobbly chalk drawing I made in 1999 when I was a year old. From then on, my family has been endlessly supportive, framing each of my doodles under the pretense that they’d be worth millions one day. I never received formal training and instead built my understanding of art through YouTube videos, social media posts, and countless hours of trial and error. With the help of my high school art teacher and friends, I put together a portfolio and was accepted into UCLA’s Fine Arts program. Post-grad, I’ve dabbled in a number of creative roles, such as private art instructor, script reader, makeup artist, and painter. I also moonlight as a photo retoucher and content creator. My true passion, however, has been and always will be illustrating.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Art school was hard because I never felt like I fully fit in. My work leans on the more illustrative side and that was frowned upon in my program for lacking the finesse and “depth” of more abstract, conceptual work. Being one of few students of color didn’t help this deep sense of alienation.

After graduating, I jumped around different fields, once again unsure of where I fit in. I feared that my work was too weird to be commercial but not weird enough to be fine art. Years later, however, I can see that all of these seemingly disjointed parts of my practice do feed into each other. I don’t need a niche, I can do a bit of everything. Ever since I realized I don’t need to limit myself to a single label, I’ve been able to explore different artistic avenues, and this has made me more confident in my abilities as an artist.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I have experience in a breadth of mediums, but my favorite modes of expression are illustration and creative writing. I mine inspiration from my own experiences of love, longing, and grief and create art as a means of processing these complex feelings. I often draw without a reference because I think strict adherence to photo accuracy hinders my artistic voice. Bias and perspective place a fascinating, unique lens over the things we draw and, as a result, say more about the artist than the subjects themselves. In a broader sense, everything we do is self-portraiture. The lipstick ring we leave on a mug, the slant of our handwriting, the way we each describe the sky as a different shade of blue. I don’t pretend to know universal truths; I make art about what I know and what I know is myself.

I am most proud of my ability to distill complex emotions into a body of text or a single image. Nothing feels more gratifying than hearing that my work resonated strongly with someone — it’s like yelling confessions into a void and then miraculously hearing a reply of “me, too”. Creating art and consuming art have fostered a deep sense of community online and in real life.

The most unique aspects of my work are my surreal compositions and original characters. This cast of illustrative birds, wolves, and alligators draws influence from Keith Haring, folk art, and children’s illustrations, and serves as flexible stand-ins for myself, people I’ve known, and intangible entities. Their long beaks and bendy limbs have become so deeply ingrained in the language of my work that I hardly think twice when I add them to a scene. In addition, I am drawn to compositions with a surrealist tenor. I often stage a central figure surrounded by significant objects to create uncanny tableaus. These images possess a sense of stillness that reflects my feelings of being stuck in a metaphorical indoors and playing back memories on an endless loop.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
– You don’t need to spend money to make good art. Use whatever you have; good artists can paint with soup if they have to. I got into UCLA with a portfolio full of paintings I made with 69-cent Apple Barrel acrylics and $20-for-5 canvases. Learn how to make work with affordable materials and then upgrade later – This one is hard, but try not to be precious with your work. This will cloud your judgment and keep you from making necessary decisions regarding balance, composition, completion status, etc. It’ll also make you resistant to feedback and that too will hinder growth.

– Art doesn’t have to mean anything. It can, but it doesn’t have to. Sometimes art is just breathing — taking in your experiences and letting them go. Other times it’s a love letter, a confession, a distraction. Only you can define what it means to you.

– Do not aim to make universal art; universality exists only in specificity. By telling your honest truth, you’ll inevitably hit on feelings other people can connect to.

– Artists do not have to suffer. Sleep, eat, laugh, cry, and maintain your spiritual self, or your work will deteriorate.

– Don’t let anyone tell you that joyful art is worthless or “not deep enough”. Let them broodily eat their cigarettes and move on.

– Freelancing is hard and it isn’t for everyone. It requires a high level of organization, focus, ambition, and, most importantly, a support system. Surround yourself with other creatives who can empathize because the ups and downs of this type of work can be incredibly exhausting.

– A lot of us make art from an intuitive place, so by questioning your choices, you will learn a lot about your artistic voice and the things that drive you as a creator. Journaling about your work in a stream-of-consciousness style is a great way to practice reflection. Getting comfortable with this process will make artist statements, residency letters, and website bios a breeze.

– Even if you’re not making art in this exact moment or many moments, you’re still an artist. While you live your life, read books, have conversations, etc. you are adding to your great big lexicon of experiences that you can later draw from when you’re ready to get back to work.

Pricing:

• Art commission: $100/hr. Flat rates, day rates, and commercial license fees are available upon request
• Virtual private art lesson: $200/2 hour session
• Virtual creative consultation: $200/hr
• Makeup art: $200/look. Full and half-day rates for Film/TV and editorial projects available upon request

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.somewhereinjune.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/somewhere_in_june/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sienna-g-55a794172/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@somewhere_in_june?lang=en

Image Credits
Portrait by Willa Cutolo