Diego Andrade is a Mexican illustrator, visual artist and tattooist who possesses an almost tangible certainty towards the idea of death to explain the mystery of the soul and its relationship with nature. We had the opportunity to interview him and he told us about his beginnings, fears and concerns. As well as his relationship with his spirituality that leads him to give life to great pieces.
"I stopped to study it because I didn't feel that I was contributing to what I wanted to do as an artist and as an illustrator or at least the vision I had. My degree course was taking away so much time from me. It just didn’t make sense anymore."
Hello Diego! Before starting this interview, tell us a little about yourself. Who are you?
My name is Diego Andrade García, I am an illustrator, visual artist and tattooist. I live in Mexico City and I'm 25 years old.
Tell us about your formative career.
I studied design and visual communication at an art and design University, but I dropped it off. I think I spent 3 years in this degree course that lasted 4 and a half, and the last year I stopped to study it because I didn't feel that I was contributing to what I wanted to do as an artist and as an illustrator or at least to the vision I had, and I decided to leave it to dedicate myself more to my work. My degree course was taking away so much time from me. It just didn’t make sense anymore.
Do you devote yourself exclusively to art or is there something else you want to share with us?
Yes, well I prefer to say that "I draw in different formats and for different purposes". I consider myself more of a drawer than anything else but what I do most is illustration, a personal work that in the end is commercialized in galleries or by myself and I also dedicate myself to tattooing; that's another activity with which I profit from my work.
What do you think about the word ART?
I think that many people are afraid of it. They feel it as a heavy, strong word. Sometimes it sounds like a certain amount of courage from an elite group in order for your work to be considered art. It is perceived as something that is only exhibited in museums, but which for me at least is simply any sort of honest work that arises from the need to communicate a personal concern and it is expressed through a drawing, a song or a film. It connects with other people who process it with their own experiences and it becomes a very interesting cycle which in the end I think is where its artistic value lies. It doesn't necessarily have to be considered something serious.
