Life & Work with Andres Camilo of Pacific Palisades

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andres Camilo.

Hi Andres Camilo, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I didn’t come up through a traditional art path. I was born in Medellín and moved to the U.S. as a kid, so there’s always been this theme of starting over. I later became an Army officer and deployed to Afghanistan, and for a while after that I was in corporate work, trying to build a stable life. But there was a disconnect I couldn’t really ignore.

Art started as a way to process things. It wasn’t public at first. Just a way to make sense of memory and identity. Over time it became more intentional, more about translating something internal into something visual.

Last year, I lost my home and most of my work in the Palisades fire. That forced another reset. Now the work feels more stripped down and direct. I’m focused on building a practice rooted in transformation, using the figure and symbolism to explore what survives and what gets rebuilt.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it hasn’t been a smooth road. About three weeks before the fire, I had started going through a divorce, and then everything compounded at once. I lost my home, went nomadic for the year, and was still paying a mortgage on a place I couldn’t even live in. There was a constant layer of pressure underneath everything.

There were a lot of moments where it would’ve been easier to pause or pivot into something more stable. Instead, I doubled down on the art. I kept painting, kept showing up, even when it didn’t feel like I was on solid ground.

That stretch forced a kind of discipline and clarity. It stripped things down and made the commitment very real—this is something I’m choosing, even when it’s inconvenient or uncertain.

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 work sits between magical realism and personal narrative. I focus on nature, often layering animals, human desire, and spirituality that feel real but slightly altered. I’m interested in where memory, identity, and transformation overlap. These days it’s a lot of watercolor and acrylic painting.

What I’m most proud of is the resilience behind the work and my ability to tell my own story through it. The paintings are a continuation of my life.

What sets me apart is how I’ve been building this practice under unstable conditions. For a long stretch, I’ve been creating without a dedicated studio, moving between spaces and staying consistent. At the same time, I’ve chosen to be transparent about my process and my life under a public lens. That level of vulnerability carries directly into the work.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
One of my favorite childhood memories is riding in a dune buggy through the desert with my grandfather. I remember the openness of it, being surrounded by nature and just exploring without much structure. As a kid, I would look at the mountains and imagine them as giant dinosaurs, like they were alive in some quiet way. That sense of exploration and imagination has stayed with me.

Pricing:

• 10 x 14 in watercolor, $500
• 18x x 24 in watercolor, $1k
• 24 x 24 acrylic, $2k
• Large acrylic, $3-9k

Contact Info:

• Website: https://andrescamilo.art
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrescamilo___