Formation of “Conrayitos”

Okay look… Conrayitos was my way of pleasing and rebelling all in one. The happy-go-lucky, shallow title was meant to be catchy and marketable, an easy way to earn my family’s approval while also throwing a jab at them. Yes, yes, very demure of me.

During my first semester of college, after I couldn’t leave Puerto Rico to attend my dream university, the weapon I’d finally honed and the refuge I had so carefully protected both became my sources of dread. Art was no longer simply mine; it was my future career, and I was “stuck here, in this God-forsaken island, in an institution that had little to teach me” as I used to say.

As you can tell, the formation of Conrayitos was a rocky period of artistic growth filled with rage, inhibited by slowly dying ambitions, and driven by an arrogant intolerance for mistakes. The art below focuses mainly on women and models, which I would enjoy making: aesthetically pleasing and intricate enough to flaunt. Their purpose was simple: to be realistic, beautiful, and worthy of a place on the wall for skill alone.

Nobody had to know why I did what I did… not even myself. At that time, I couldn’t even begin looking at those skeletons in my closet. Giving my art personal meaning felt as unimaginable as it was expected, so faced with that expectation, I did what I knew best: I defied everything and everyone. I let my talent speak for me while keeping a safe emotional distance.