Featured artist Juan Pablo Rodriguez Villegas used the current political climate of the United States to create an art piece that addressed immigration issues and the stigma around immigrants.
Rodriguez Villegas is the second place winner of the Juried Art Student Exhibition, which is open until Saturday.
He considers his most recent work titled “Wetback” as his most influential and impactful piece he has created to date.
Utilizing the current administration as inspiration for the piece, he shared that although he was privileged, he was still scared to exist, due to the fear of being deported.
“I noticed myself being stressed and I realize I couldn’t really live normally…I got the idea when I was literally cleaning the gallery, I was zoning out and I saw a wet floor sign and all of the sudden it was silence. I thought ‘wet floor, wet back,’” Rodriguez Villegas said.
The word “wetback” is used as a derogatory term in American language, but Rodriguez Villegas felt called make something that called for attention.
“I think he took a bold risk creating art that was conceptual and I hope that it starts dialogue about current policies, labor laws and immigration,” art gallery manager Karla Aguiniga said.
He shared a story of his parents’ memory of being at the immigration office and seeing an older man be denied a United States visa to see his son, who immigrated to the U.S. illegally.
The man was seen by Rodirguez Villegas’ parents begging the woman behind the counter to ‘please get him a visa’ and ‘that he had the money,’ and he had a feeling he wouldn’t be alive for much longer and was hoping to see his son one last time before he died.
“That type of thing is why I make art actually. That type of things is why I keep doing what I do, not just drawing cars or something. I want to do something that’s impactful and makes you think about this type of stuff,” Rodriguez Villegas said.
He is a first generation student who was faced with learning a new language at a later age in order to communicate with teachers, fellow students and friends.
Rodriguez Villegas spoke about his life in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, where he had immigrated from in 2022.
“I’ve lived there all my life, it’s home for me. I didn’t really know what I was doing, I kind of just lived, you know, I had a few friends, I played a lot of Xbox. If I stayed there, I would probably be studying real estate,” Rodriguez Villegas said.
He expressed that pursuing art while he was living in Mexico was not a profitable career, and it felt like it was out of reach for him to continue to try for it as a career.
Rodriguez Villegas flew to the U.S. with his family, which includes his mother, stepdad and two siblings.
“I’m very grateful that they’re very supportive of my art and never say that I need to go into something that just makes a lot of money like a lot of immigrant parents do. Even if she does think like that, she never says that, she’s always there,” Rodriguez Villegas said.
The experience of moving to an entirely new country with a different culture, education system and language was a barrier that Rodriguez Villegas broke down within five years.
“It was a living hell, but I was just doing my best in everything. I had this method where I would try to find words that sounded similar in English to words in Spanish and try to understand what teachers and people were saying but sometimes I would get a D on my tests and have to find someone to explain my method to my teachers,” Rodriguez Villegas said.
When he was creating art during his time in Mexico, he described it as a hobby, and art was considered a luxury and not a necessity.
Art became something he pursued seriously during his time at Long Beach City College, as he chose to major in art history and to work in the LBCC Art Gallery under Federal Work-Study.
“Art is a way to show emotions in a visual way, in a way you can hear or, you know, in many ways. It’s a way to get your emotions out of you and out to the world,” Rodriguez Villegas said.