Artist Erick, 37
Erick, 37
Incarcerated: 6 years
People in the free world think incarcerated people are sad, depressed or angry. That’s not true for me. I’m living a happy life. Every morning, I get up and am laser focused on getting in the telephone line. I stand in line for about 30 minutes for a 15 minute call, all to talk to my wife to find out how she’s doing and keep our relationship strong. We’ve been married for six years. She lives in Southern California. Things would be better if we were able to have family visits – overnight visits for two or three days. I like drawing stuff that has to do with things that don’t exist in the real world, like the phoenix, and the crying angel. They bring me self-fulfillment. I did a mariachi painting recently because I’ve never done a cultural piece and in prison, it’s a big thing to embrace one’s culture. Now, my relationship with my Mexican culture has changed as I’m delving deeper into it. Collectively, these pieces represent my personality and feelings as well as my desire to keep challenging myself as an artist. The next piece I’m thinking of is a skeleton that emphasizes the rib cage. I want it to have a rose as its heart with light coming out of it. The light coming out of the heart would represent my circumstance of being in prison. People think when someone is sent to prison that life stops, but it doesn’t. People still go to school, create art, and are still relevant. I create artwork in order to give something positive to the world. I don’t want to live in the shadow of the crime that I committed. I know I have the capacity to change because I’m putting in the work to learn about myself. Both of Erick’s paintings will be for sale along with 41 pieces painted by people inside SQ. 👀for our auction. Please stop by our office to see them in person!
Perrpul Candles
Description: I wanted to create some ghostly, purple candles because I love both. The flame is intriguing to watch, so I had to paint some candles!
Cheeser Smile
Description: I love drawing cartoons. I wanted to do a dark green mint background with variations of the color red for the woman. I wanted this art piece to be playful and fun.
Erick, that’s a creative way of survival, take heed , Gods help is o it’s way, stay focused on your art work, your groups and other rehabilitation courses that will help you and set up milestones to accomplish.
The good work will not go unnoticed, keep being yourself, it may be surprising one of those days my Son- I love you lots – God bless you and lead you with his strong hand. Papa
Erick, I was surprised to read that you are leading a happy life. standing in line every day to speak with your wife and maintain that relationship speaks volumes about your intention to do the work. Keep up the creative artwork.