Featured Artist: Martin Ontiveros

Martin Ontiveros Bio:

Martin Ontiveros grew up in San Diego, California. Graduated CalArts at 26 with a Bachelor's degree in something. Then he moved here to Portland. He isn't rich... yet. But he is getting paid to do what he enjoys.

He has a nice girlfriend, a cool son named Felix and two cats not named Felix. His many many years of pop culture emersion and empirical knowledge of useless trivial information have somehow paid off in spades. Call it luck.

10 Questions with Martin Ontiveros:

1. Does anything from your childhood have a big influence on your current work?
1A. Maybe not in my current work, except that monsters were a big part of my imagination as a kid--in books, TV, comics, toys, you name it. If I went to a library, chances were I'd look up books on creatures or ghosts or UFOs, fact or fiction.
The 70's were a heyday for phenomena-laden entertainment. There was a TV channel in San Diego (where I grew up), XETV, that spent a good few years running horror and science-fiction themed weeks of programming, and even though we had cable all the way back then, I'd be watching these movies on the free channel. I've seen so many that to this day, when I'm at a video-rental place, I come across some weird B or cult type movie and realize I've seen it. I can recall a lot of them vividly even now.


I loved the show In Search Of, and there were a ton of low-budget documentaries made back then about Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, UFOs, and all other types of supernatural stuff. All of this still fascinates me today. It's funny though, as tame as I realize most of that was by today's standards, I wouldn't let my son watch anything more violent than an old Godzilla flick. I guess you could say the 70's were a time of very loose discretion.

2. Who/what are some current influences on your artwork?
2A. Primarily any artist I consider a friend, though I try not to study their work too hard out of fear that I might accidentally skim off too much of their style. Appropriation must be kept in check when it comes to that! As far as visual influences, it has for many years now remained the art of ancient civilizations, with Meso-american/Pre-columbian art topping the list, Mexican folk art, some ancient Greek, woodcuts from the middle ages (especially anything related to the supernatural), Asian art. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that these are artforms in which realism was not the order of the day, and everything is broken down into rudimentary form and perspective. It wasn't so much about getting something accurately portrayed than it was about making sure enough of the theme or object was there for the viewer to understand what they were seeing.
In terms of influence on determination and drive, meaning, an attitude that keeps me slinging the brush away, it's funny because it has more to do with music than art; rock n' roll and metal in particular. I often list Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath as an influence because the guy lost the tips of two of his fingers, his fingering hand even, in a industrial accident where he worked in the 60's. He never thought he'd play again, then later created these plastic tips with leather pads to cover those injured fingers. The rest is history, and the music speaks for itself.
The Melvins were always a huge influence too, especially watching Dale Crover play drums. Lately it's been Matt Pike from High On Fire--you have to see them live to know what I mean. He plays that guitar like a man possessed, it's something to behold. There are others too, but what I get from them is this true dedication to one's craft and honing their abilities to their best potential. I'm not saying I've reached this level of mastery myself, but I at least have certain people whose example I can follow.

3. What do you think of the art vinyl movement? Have you ever thought of making a toy?
3A. It's INSANE. There's so much out there now, and it doesn't seem to be near any end in sight. It's the new canvas, really, like it or not. I tend to stick to classic vinyl or new vinyl with that style mind, but there are a number of new art-related toys that are pretty cool. It's interesting to see who can translate into 3D and who cannot. Bottom line is that there is enough out there to suit everyone's taste, and that's a good thing. Everyone has a toy out. EVERYONE. Except me, but that will happen in due course, I'm not in any hurry there. Of course I want to make one.

4. Other than art, what other passions/hobbies do you have?
4A. Not too many other than art. Books, movies, music...but ultimately anything I do always comes back to the art in some way. I'm a dad too, so most of my non-work time is spent making sure my son is happy.

5. How do you prepare before creating a new piece?
5A. Hmm...there's not much of a process there really, at least not mentally. I just doodle a bit until I get a thumbnail down, then work it out in the pencil drawing afterward. I always draw a super-tight composition in pencil before any painting. Then I build the canvas, transfer the drawing and go from there. In that sense I haven't loosened up much.
Other artists I know can scribble a quick layout on the canvas and hash out the details in the paint, but I work the other way around. I have to know exactly what I'm doing before going into it, or it'll wind up going nowhere. Once I have the details laid out, then there might be room to change something, but usually not much.

6. What was the first concert that you went to?
6A. Sky Show...7? I think. 1981 or 82. It was this annual Summer concert thrown by a San Diego rock station. They have a huge outdoor stadium there, it used to be called Jack Murphy Stadium, now Qualcomm owns it so it's named after them. Anyway, I was 12, and went with some friends. The opener was some no-name that was probably related to the promoter or something, very forgettable. The rest was awesome: Chuck Berry, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and Cheap Trick. After that it was all stadium/arena concerts, until I was about 17 and saw Agnostic Front and RKL live in this tiny fireman's hall with 750 people crammed inside. That's when I realized, shit, this is rock n' roll! Screw the big venues!

7. Are there any mediums that you're dying to try out?
7A. I'd like to sharpen up my carpentry skills, make more stuff out of wood than just canvasses. I like doing papier mache, and would love to explore it further. In terms of 3D sculpture, it's right up my alley.



8. What's behind all the monsters?
8A. I do not feel I'm experienced enough to offer a comprehensive analysis of my own work, but if I have to answer this? I suppose it's about things that appear scary or repulsive on the outside but are nothing of the sort on the inside. It kind of goes hand in hand with what people have said about me before they get to know me, I've been hearing it for years. Some of it might have to do with my seeing things from the monster's side too, especially in all those movies I've seen. Are they really evil? Or just doing what is expected of them as creatures of nature/super-nature? Frankenstein is one monster that I often think of in this context.

9. When did you realize that you were an artist?
9A. In grade school, particularly in 6th grade. I realized I was one of the only kids doing it enough to gather notice. I figured, well, I suck at everything else and I'm too awkward and weird to be cool, so I better stick with this.

10. When did you begin to take your artwork seriously?
10A. That has happened a few times, actually. When I was 19, I kind of reached a point where I realized I might not be too bad at this after all, but I was too shy to stick myself out there more. In art school I was good enough to stand out some. I don't think I really go into it until after my first show in Portland, 1998. Lots of stuff happened after that, but I let it slip and my attitude wasn't all that great. Then last year I felt like I was just totally dropping out of the scene and had to really look hard at what I had been doing wrong, and decided to turn that around. So after 9 years of doing this professionally, I feel like I only recently have been really taking it seriously, and things have never been better: the art and my attitude about it.

What are some current projects you're working on?
The most important thing I have going now is the promotion and further exposure of my work--so I try to take on any group show that is offered to me and any project I think has a lot or merit or potential to lead to more stuff. It isn't about climbing a ladder to success as much as it is about creating new paths to follow so I will never fall into a rut.
Remember what I said above, it's like I'm starting all over again from scratch. I do have a solo show in March at Super 7 in San Francisco that I'm hoping to just totally blow out. I also plan on totally overhauling my website and making it really cool, with a store page. I will be doing more handmade silkscreen prints in the next year, and have new t-shirts and other stuff like that made. Other than that, nothing major. I just go with the flow for now. Keep your eyes open; I intend to be seen a lot more of in the near future.

Artist Website: www.martinhead.com