Meet Christopher Rivera | Painting Instructor and Painter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christopher Rivera and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christopher, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Engaging the world through visual language is something that has always been second nature for me. I was the only child of a single mother so I attribute much of my interest in visual arts to childhood attempts at keeping myself occupied. My mother worked full-time accounting for an interior design company and I spent many hours walking around the showrooms taking in the language of design before I was even aware of the term. I was raised in a low-income area of Orlando Florida and I understood at a young age the importance that education and self-motivation would play in having a comfortable future.

While I knew I had a penchant for drawing and painting, a career as an artist seemed like a daydream to someone from my economic background. It wasn’t until my first year of the Bachelor’s program at the University of Central Florida that I began to realize that even with financial limitations, through networking, developing a consistent studio practice, and art education I could be a successful practicing artist and start my own business. This was made more clear on my first research trip to New York where I was able to engage with communities outside my own and see well-known artists’ work in person. This radically altered my perspective about what was possible for me. I began creating bodies of work and submitting the work to as many galleries and spaces as possible. In 2019 I had my first solo exhibition and began to regularly sell my paintings as well as work on larger projects like murals.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My artistic practice uses paint to investigate my relationship with screen media and popular culture. As an only child in a single-parent household, I draw from the hours I spent in my formative years on television and computer media. I pull from my experiences as a person of color growing up in the early 90s to examine the ease of accessibility screen media presented to me as a child. Since the digital revolution, the curated allure of popular culture, generated by the media industries has only grown. While the internet has exponentially increased the possibility of fostering self-improving habits, it has also perfected the ease of accessibility to time-consuming entertainment media, a choice I struggle with often.

A personal lesson I have learned is that following a regular routine helps to stifle my compulsion for activities I deem unproductive for myself. These activities are things we are all culpable for, including mindlessly scrolling on Facebook, going on Amazon shopping sprees for things I don’t need, or ending up in an internet rabbit hole for hours on a topic that is irrelavent to my life. I want my audience to recognize their own habits in my work and come to terms with their individual relationship with these habits.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
As an artist, I would have to start the day by visiting the High Museum in downtown Atlanta. The High is such a wonderful example of a museum that captures the diversity of upcoming artists in the city and simultaneously houses some of the most important works of art history. The museum has enough work and content to fill an entire day. For Lunch, I would head over to Estrellíta for some amazing Filipino dishes and their awesome atmosphere. The restaurant is a short walk to the next destination, the Atlanta zoo where I would complete the day. The range of animals the zoo has is impressive and I like how close visitors can come to some of the animals. I could spend hours watching the pandas play in their enclosure.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to recognize my mother Pauline Aponte for being my first and longest supporter, my partner Samantha McCoy for her encouragement and love, and the faculty and staff of Florida State University for assisting me in seeking out new opportunities. It is only because of the strength of my support system that I am able to share my work with the world and I am appreciative of all those who help me do that.

Website: https://www.christopherriveraartist.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christopherriveraartist/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-rivera-1b760b10a/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christopher.rivera.7393264/