Meet Andrea Ramirez of Mextica in El Sereno

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Ramirez “Mextica”.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I could never paint on canvas because only real artists painted on canvas. I never attended art school or studied under a well-known creative, so therefore I was not a real artist. But even with that totally false belief, I started my work as an artist by painting on roof tiles, terra cotta pots and used salt dough to create arbol de vida wall hangings and hummingbird ornaments.

These were the first pieces of art I carted with me to my first vendor fair at Eastside Cafe’s Mercado del Pueblo in 2013 and to my surprise, they sold! For the next three years, as an extremely part-time artist, I created pieces when I had the time and joined other local vending events like Caracol Marketplace. I loved it all! Meeting other creatives, hearing their stories, and seeing how they put their heart and soul into their work started to chip away at that false belief of what it means to be a real artist.

The final breakthrough happened during my yoga teacher training with People’s Yoga in East L.A in 2016. At our last weekend of training held at La Jolla Canyon campsite in Malibu, the question that planted itself in my brain for way too many years came to life – what would my community look like as a papel amate painting? With the mountains behind us, the ocean in front, and lots of activity happening all throughout the campsite, I realized I was in a papel amate painting and that was the last push I needed to finally paint exactly how I wanted.

Papel amate is bark paper and Nahua artists in Mexico paint these busy community scenes almost always with mountains in the background, a sun or moon high above, some water element, and bright colors that pop out from the brown color of the paper. Adhering to these elements of papel amate art, I bought a pre-stretched canvas and recreated our yoga camping weekend as my final project for the teacher training. Over two dozen paintings later, I’m thankful for the guidance and extra push my community gave me.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
In the beginning, the struggle was always with time. I battled a full-time job plus two part-time gigs in carving out time to paint and vend at events. I fully let go of my previous work of painting on roof tiles, terra cotta pots, and such to solely paint on cavnas which gave me so much joy. Since my art focuses on community and culture, there was thankfully never a lack of subject matter and inspiration. On the flip side, however, I have to battle with my brain that likes to jump from one painting idea to another. I still have five unfinished pieces at various stages that wait for my return.

Please tell us more about your art.
I tell stories with paint, canvas, and really tiny brushes. The detailed, colorful, and community-centered art of papel amate inspires me to capture my surroundings and history in the same way. I want the viewer to see themselves in my art.

Most of my artwork are moments in time like a Dia de Muertos celebration in La Placita Olvera or a workshop for pregnant bodies held in a doula’s backyard in Long Beach. Some recreate history like Love Walks which shares the story of action taken by the moms of the Pico/Aliso Projects in the early 90’s. And some of my work honors my Costa Rican heritage thru the ongoing series Pura Vida Sarchi.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I like the word destiny better than luck. I like the idea of being destined to do something or meet someone. There’s a destination out there waiting for all the pieces to fall into place and it will happen all in good time. For example, destiny brought me to the site of my first solo art show.

In October 2018, my fellow vendor and yoga teacher, Reina Prado of Healing Queen, reached out to me to sub her community yoga class. I had just left my full-time job and therefore had a very flexible schedule, so I said yes. The morning yoga class was at Tonalli Studio in East Los which is run by Rosanna Esparza Ahrens and her mama Ofelia Esparza – both of whom I knew by their long reputations as master altar builders and artists in their own right.

When I arrived at the studio, to my surprise they were my only two students. No one else showed, but we had the class anyway. Afterward, as we packed away the yoga props and rolled up our mats, Rosanna invited me to join them for breakfast across the street at La Carreta. When the standard getting-to-know-someone question of “what do you do?” came up, I built up the courage to mention that I paint. Sharing pics of my work from my phone, both Rosanna and Ofelia were very generous with their complements. The conversation steered toward working as artists, the do’s and don’ts, and some incredibly helpful insights from their own experiences.

From that day on, I’ve enjoyed one of the best friendships and working relationships ever experienced. In November of 2019, I held my first solo art show at Tonalli Studio. I could not have gotten there with out the encouragement and generosity of Rosanna and Ofelia and, of course, Reina’s need for a yoga sub.

Contact Info:

• Website: WWW.ARTEMEXTICA.COM
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/MEXTICA
• Facebook: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ARTEMEXTICA

Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.