Today we’d like to introduce you to Fabian Debora.
Hi Fabian, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Born in El Paso, Texas, and raised in the housing projects of Boyle Heights after my parents migrated to Los Angeles in the early 1980s, I came up in a time where the streets were loud with struggle but also alive with culture. I learned to navigate a world made of contradictions—like an eclipse, this neighborhood was both shadow and light, joy and pain, all wrapped into one. It reminded me then, as it still does now in 2025, that we are living cycles—different times, but the same heartbeat. Against the current, I found something that would save me: Art. It became my language when words failed me, my anchor through both the wounds and the wonder. Each time I created, it sparked something inside—igniting my spirit and reminding me I was still here, still breathing, still becoming. That’s how I came to know the healing power of art. I held onto it not just as a tool, but as a lifeline—a way to feel my own existence in a world that often tried to erase it.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s never been a smooth road—far from it. My journey has been layered with pain, detours, and hard lessons. Growing up in the housing projects of Boyle Heights, I was surrounded by survival. Survival of poverty, survival of broken systems, survival of generational trauma. My environment shaped me, but it also tested me. I fell into addiction, into the streets, into a lifestyle that promised belonging but came at the cost of my spirit.
There were times I didn’t think I’d make it out. Times where the weight of it all felt too heavy—where the pain I carried turned into destruction, and I didn’t know how to ask for help. But somewhere in all that chaos, I kept returning to art. Even in my darkest moments, I would draw. That was my thread back to self, back to Creator, back to hope.
The struggle wasn’t just external—it was internal too. Learning how to forgive myself, how to heal, how to be vulnerable in a world that taught me to armor up. That’s been the real work. And I’m still walking that path. The transformation didn’t happen overnight—it happened piece by piece, brushstroke by brushstroke.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Graffiti Artist Transitioning into fine art, acrylic and graphite works—often in hyper-realistic Baroque style—showcasing Chicano identity, spiritual transformation, and barrio life. During the pandemic, he infused Renaissance techniques (light and chiaroscuro) into personal narratives through his Cara de Vago series
Healing & Educational Arts
Beyond creating art, I am committed to art as therapy and community transformation. He founded the Homeboy Art Academy, teaches trauma-informed creative workshops, and integrates spiritual metaphors into his craft. His teaching and counseling roles with Homeboy Industries and the Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network position him as both healer and mentor
Stylistic Influences & Vision
My influences come from Mexican muralists like Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo to European masters like Caravaggio—with his lived experience. He stands out for using vivid realism, deeply layered symbolism, and a distinctly Chicano vernacular to “reflect social issues and the people they represent” Just to name a few.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
That’s not just a phrase I repeat — it’s a truth I live and breathe. It’s a declaration that holds weight, memory, and legacy. Because this city, mi ciudad, was built on the backs and prayers of those who came before us — the dreamers, the laborers, the caretakers of culture who left their footprints in the concrete before it ever dried. From the indigenous roots of the Tongva to the waves of immigrant struggle and perseverance, Los Angeles was never handed to us — we carved it out, block by block, heart by heart.
Yes, it’s rough around the edges. It’s gritty. It doesn’t hide its scars. But that’s what makes it beautiful. We don’t run from that — we wear it. Like a mural layered in history, colors bleeding into one another — not perfect, but powerful.
Through cultura, through love, through familia and community, we’ve become resilient. We survive and rise, over and over again. Because no matter what comes — the violence, the displacement, the forgetting — we remain. We create. We love harder. We stand taller. We show up for one another even when the world overlooks us.
This is my Los Angeles. A city that taught me how to hold a paintbrush like it was a lifeline. A city that embraced me when I had nothing but pain in my pocket and dreams too heavy for my back. And even now, through all the change, I still stand with her — and with us, her people. Because that’s who we are. Somos Los Angeles. Not just in name — but in spirit, in soul, in resistance, and in love.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://FabianDebora.com
- Instagram: @fabiandebora
- Facebook: Fabian Debora
- Youtube: Fabian Debora
