Print  &  Object

Roland Santana
2023 
Hand Painted 3D Print
Approx 4” x 3.5”

Roland Santana
2023 
Hand Painted 3D Print
Approx. 4” x 3.5”

Roland Santana
2023 
Hand Painted 3D Print
Approx. 3” x 2.5”

Roland Santana
2023
Hand Painted 3D Print
Approx 4” x 3.5” 

Roland Santana
2023
Hand Painted 3D Print
Approx. 3” x 2.5”

Roland Santana
2023
Hand Painted 3D Print
Approx. 4” x 3.5”

Roland Santana
2023 
Hand Painted 3D Print
Approx 3” x 2.5”

Roland Santana
2023
Hand Painted 3D Print
Approx. 3” x 2.5”

Roland Santana
2021
Hand Painted 3D Print
Approx. 4” x 3.5”

Roland Santana
2021
Hand Painted 3D Print
Approx 3” x 2.5” 

Roland Santana
2021
Hand Painted 3D Print
Approx. 3” x 2.5”

Roland Santana
2021
Hand Painted 3D Print
Approx. 3” x 2.5” 

Roland Santana
2021
Hand Painted 3D Print
Approx 3” x 2.5”

Roland Santana
2021
Hand Painted 3D Print
Approx. 4” x 3.5”

Roland Santana
2021
Hand Painted 3D Print
Approx. 4” x 3.5”

About the Artwork 

Santana’s most recent collection is deeply inspired by his childhood and experience with the American construction industry. His parents immigrated from Guatemala and Bolivia to Virginia, and in his early teen years he learned the craft of painting while working in his father’s construction company. During the recession of 2008, Santana and his father would remove objects and furniture from foreclosed homes, then clean and paint the walls white, leaving no trace of its inhabitants. This emotional process of whiting out lived experiences inspired Santana to consider the value of material and life: the stains and marks on each home captured the movement and memories of families who had lived in these spaces.

His chosen medium--poly foam, often used on job sites-- is a bridge between his utilitarian past and artistic present. His self-described “weird, squishy forms” are encapsulated in glossy painted tones that layer futuristic-inspired fluorescent pinks and playful lemon drop yellows across the functional matter.

About the Artist

Born May 11, 1995 in Vienna, Virginia, Roland is a Latin-American artist and DJ. His parents who immigrated from Bolivia and Guatemala introduced Santana to industrial processes and materials in his early teen years while working with his father in construction. During their downtime his father who was a DJ and dancer in the 90’s introduced Santana to the technicolor world of the early rave scene. This vibrant romanticism of this underground culture would be the driving force in his creative journey with music and visual art. Through this organic unconventional way of understanding aesthetics, he later pursued an artistic practice leading him to move to Chicago for a college education. The first of his family to live in this city, he found himself diving straight into a world of subculture’s that can only be found here. Surrounding himself with filmmakers, street artists, and DJ’s, Santana became even more intrigued in the relationship between visuals and sound. Roland Santana began to develop a style that allows viewers to see the work impact a much bigger part of the surrounding space, like sound waves reflecting off the walls of a room. Colors are transforming, transmuting, unlocking the passage from reality to a euphoric dream world. The minimal contents and sculpture essence of his work question if what Santana is making are paintings at all, it is puzzling and weird. Roland Santana is a rainbow ranging from electric lime green to melancholic shades of purple and pink. He is luminous and dark. Today Santana has gained the likes of several galleries and collectors and has participated in showcases in spaces such as Mana Contemporary, Chicago Art Department, NADA, AMFM, Belong Gallery, Comercio Popular, Ortega y Gasset Projects (Brooklyn, NYC), Baby Blue Gallery, Heaven Gallery, Chuquimarca Projects and more.