Today we’d like to introduce you to Alberto Lule.
Alberto, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I realized I Was an artist while serving a thirteen years sentence in a California prison. About four years into my sentence, I began to look for ways that would take me out of the prison space on a mental level. I noticed that a lot of inmates would exercise in the yard, so I began doing that. What really took me out of the prison space was drawing. It was art that made the prison walls disappear, even if only for the hours I would work. This habit of simple pencil drawing led to art books and then a passion for art in general. This passion led to other forms of knowledge, such as philosophy and, eventually, college correspondence courses. I realized I could overcome not only the prison I was physically in but the mental prison I had placed myself in even before prison. I started looking inward, deep in my soul, for ways to escape, and in so doing, I realized the trappings of the prison system was only one of the many institutions that exist to trap and exploit people in this country. I realized then that my entire life was composed of three identities that this system has designated for me: The child of illegal immigrants, the gang member, and the prisoner. Out of these three identities, I chose to create a new identity while incarcerated: the artist.
When I was released from prison on May 27, 2016 I immediately enrolled in a community college in Santa Barbara, CA. Eventually, I was accepted and transferred to the School of the Arts at UCLA. I received my BFA from UCLA in 2020. Currently, I am on track to receive my Master in Fine Arts from UC Irvine in 2024. I have been a full-time student since that release date.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Hardships, obstacles, and struggles have been a part of my life since I was born. My parents were illegal immigrants from Mexico. As a kid growing up in the 1980s and 90s, illegal immigrants had zero access to things like food stamps or welfare, or housing. Hard labor dominated our household, leaving little room for things like the arts. And yet, it was the arts and education that saved me later in life as a prisoner. As a kid, my artwork was tagging and graffiti on public property, and my education was the code of the streets and my loyalty to my neighborhood, which became my extended family. There was also a culture clash between my hardworking parents, who I saw as being taken advantage of this country, and then shown very little gratitude or respect for the hard work they did. It made me angry and led me down the road of obtaining fast money for minimal work. I promised myself I would never break my back for a country who didn’t appreciate or deserve it. But I was wrong, and I paid a big price for the mistakes I made on that road. And I am thankful for being blessed with a second chance. The first thing I realized was that a second chance was not for me to keep…you have to give it back. And now I break my back looking for people to give that second chance to. I am proud to say that currently, I teach art lessons at the Orange County Juvenile Hall, where I pass this message on to my students/kids.
Some hardships I deal with today as a student are: I have a wife and a child, so I am a parenting student. I am a commuter student, first-gen student, low-income student, and formerly incarcerated student. I think I check every box when they ask you about hardships, LOL.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My current artwork focuses on mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex in the United States, particularly the California prison system. Using my own experiences, I aim to tie the prison industrial complex to other American political issues, such as immigration, homelessness, drug addiction, and mental health, all of which are connected to the millions of people being incarcerated and used in a new form of slavery. By focusing on how institutional systems operate, I have come to notice the similarities between all institutions, from institutions of higher learning to correctional institutions. These similarities can be exposed and learned from, not only from a scientific point of view but even more thoroughly through art.
I am a co-chair of a student organization at UC Irvine called The Underground Scholars Initiative. We are a group of students composed of formerly incarcerated students as well as students that have been impacted directly by the California prison system. We aim to support and advocate for formerly incarcerated students as well as students who are currently incarcerated. By partnering with other groups, such as UCLA’s Prison Education Program, the Underground Scholars Initiative fights to dismantle the prison industrial complex and the school-to-prison pipeline. I believe by observing and analyzing through an artistic lens, new strategies of dealing with these very harmful and impactful issues can be developed.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I do tattoos!
I can provide current and future exhibitions I am/will be part of if you like.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.albertolule.com
- Instagram: @tierrabuenatattoos
