Known on Twitter & Instagram for his detailed paintings of hearts, Cesar Velez has always had a fascination with the arts. His style brings new life to an organ that has seldom been showcased in this way. Most of us, when we think of hearts, imagine two symmetrical curves that meet to form a top-heavy shape. Sometimes they’re cracked at the center and other times they’re bruised with bandaids. We use them in our texts, we wear them on our clothing - all to symbolize expressions of love or lack thereof. When I asked Cesar why he paints hearts, he said, “because if done right, they can portray the range of feeling and emotion that I’m trying to portray…” Whether between arms extended, on their own deconstructed, Cesar finds a way to draw the observers eye towards something that we all have inside of us - in a way that stops us in our tracks. But if it’s something we’ve seen over and over, why does it feel so different when we come across different versions? Maybe because each one gets a different point across. That’s what Cesar thinks. And, while he may never paint them again after finishing this series, he’s sealed his place in time as the artist who truly captured (our) hearts.

Name: Cesar Velez

Age: 27

Race/Ethnicity/Any Identifications that Define/Describe You: Mexican

Hometown: Currently residing in Kansas City

Occupation: Artist, Oil Painter

When did you start creating your art and why?

Dating back to elementary school, I’d enter school contests and win. I think my fascination for it stemmed from boredom. My family was really poor when I was a child. So, growing up, things like video games weren’t something we always had readily available. You kind of had to make your own fun. I used to spend hours drawing imaginary superheroes and tracing Dragon Ball Z posters. It was like an escape from reality. It was probably the foundation for where my love for it began. For whatever reason, though, I never looked at it as a career. The older I got, the less I practiced art besides a few classes in school here and there. I didn’t really start practicing again until I was close to 21. And again, that stemmed from boredom. I had just moved to a new city and was looking for a job and doing all kinds of interviews. Besides the interviews I had a lot of down time so I went to the store and bought a sketchbook & some drawing pencils and the rest is history :)

When did you start your Instagram page and why?

I think in 2014/2015? I started it because I had posted some of my sketches on Twitter and received some good feedback so I thought making an Instagram for my art seemed like a good idea.

What does your process look like/involve when it comes to creating pieces?

I’d describe myself as a planner, so most of the pieces are planned out months in advance. Honestly, some of the paintings I’m working on now are ideas from 3 years ago. It’s just a matter of refining the idea until you fall in love with it. Sometimes it’s instantaneous, sometimes it takes a long time. After that, it’s all a matter of bringing that idea to life. That’s the fun part, and in my opinion, the easiest part.

What’re your feelings about the recent murders at the hands of the police?

Disgust. Anger. It’s the same thing that’s been occurring for years and years. The same cycle of abuse and lack of accountability/justice that’s been allowed because the people in power either choose to look away, enable it & even worse, profit from it. It’s unsurprising given this countries history of genocide and atrocities. But it can’t be allowed to continue. We’ve seen these images of abuse towards black and brown Americans over and over again. It needs to end.

What was life like for you growing up?

Without going into a ton of detail, hard. I grew up in a poor, single parent immigrant household. It was just my mother, my 2 siblings & myself. Even though we struggled, there was always a lot of love. I credit my upbringing with shaping my values and who I am as a person...so, for that, I’m very grateful.

How do you hope to inspire change?

That’s a good question. I guess it’s not something I’ve ever given a whole lot of thought to. I didn’t really start this journey with the goal of inspiring change or others, moreso I found something I loved and I want to see how far I can take it. But, if through this journey I can inspire others, particularly young immigrants - that they can also do what they love...then I’m all for it. We’ve been looked down on and demonized in this country for so long. But we have so much to offer. We’re intelligent. We’re creative. We’re hardworking. And we make some dope fucking art.

Favorite Food: Tie between my mother’s enchiladas and her flautas.

Favorite Genre of Music: Man, I can’t pick just one. There’s so many I listen to.

Favorite Artist/Band: Once again, it’s way too hard to just name one. But here’s 5 of my favorites: Frank Ocean, Sade, Amy Winehouse, OutKast, Kendrick Lamar.

Favorite Artist: My all time favorite is probably Caravaggio. The contrast in his work is something I’ve always been drawn to. My favorites that are still alive are Kehinde Wiley and CJ Hendry. They’re brilliant.

Favorite Colors to use: Red

Favorite Inner/Outer Feature: Empathy & Freckles

Favorite Item that you incorporate into your daily looks, special looks, going out, around the house: I’m all about comfort so you’ll probably find me wearing joggers and a t-shirt 90% of the time.

Art & Activism 010 - @artbycs