Esteban Patino

Statement

My work involves exploring the multitudes of language creation and perception. Spanning sculpture, collage, and painting, I investigate the transmission, reception, and creation of arbitrary forms and semiotics that permeate my work. In order to consider these questions I created a system of symbols that are based on 6 characters, each of which rotate on their own axis 4 times to make a total of 24 characters. With these shapes—which are an alphabet that creates the illusion of language—I play with word structures by creating text based pieces , such as speech bubbles, palindromes and metaphors to represent how we understand written and visual language.

Aesthetically, each iteration of my language study is distinct: my sculptures are systems of repetition , seeking symbolic approximation to atemporality and the possibility of universal shapes; my collages are humanoid bricolages, amorphous inquisitive monsters that portray the complexities of time and human existence; my paintings are deeply intuitive forms that awaken on the canvas, sometimes producing a sort of mythical beings or entities they aim to bring into existence the representation of timeless activities and timeless interactions.

However distinct, these styles are deeply in concert with one another—forming my praxis and pushing to me (re)consider the multifarious nature of words as symbols with infinite idiosyncratic interpretations as well as the human mark in our landscape.

GlogauAIR Project

I’ve always been drawn to the importance and magic of universal symbols, from figures made in cave paintings that convey daily life and make us witness to what was once happening, to images that unite humanity and their pacts, warnings or collective ideas, to the signs we use today–the pictographs that tell us when to cross a street, or what not to do in certain spaces.

I would use this opportunity to be able to create a whole body of work in the different mediums I currently use to express these ideas and feelings , through painting , collage and sculpture.

I would love to be able to put all this interpretation under one roof , and have the public engage with this universe in hopes that a message of unification reaches us all when we can recognize our shared humanity through the universal power of the language of Art.

I am attracted to the idea of a universal visual language that could have existed through shapes (as it always has) thousands of years ago, symbols that could be global, and transcend time. I often imagine my sculptures one day being found at the bottom of the sea and having people wonder when these shapes were created–thousands of years ago or in the 21stcentury?

My work deals with this fascination, this desire for unity and comprehension, the question of what it is that makes us human and what can be universally understood.

I feel that this concept, this investigation, this approach to language and symbol representation, is to be understood as a unifier and a timeless code for communication, inspiring feelings of innovation, partnership and trust.

CV Summary

2024

• Beastiario | Ger-Art Gallery | Atlanta GA , USA ( Curator )
• Meaning/making | Spalding Nix Gallery | Atlanta GA , USA

2023

• Thoroughfare | Spalding Nix Gallery | Atlanta GA , USA
• Artist in Residence | Georgia College | Leland gallery | Milledgeville GA , USA
• Emerging National XI | Macon Museum of Arts and Sciences | Macon GA USA

2022

• Ensemble| Spalding Nix Gallery | Atlanta GA
• Das Volk | Freemarket Gallery | Atlanta GA | Solo Show
• Gathered : Georgia Artists selecting Georgia artists | MOCA GA , USA

2021

• Re:Play \ the Bascom center for visual arts | North Carolina USA

2020

• The elusive divide | Hambidge center | Atlanta GA
• Geoforms | Swan Coach house | Atlanta GA
• Celebrating Georgia Artists of Hispanic\latinx origin | MOCA GA

2019

• The Odds are Good, but the Goods are Odd | Solo Exhibition | Sandler Hudson Gallery | Atlanta, GA
• Fine Art Acquisition Program | Group Exhibition | Fulton County Department of Arts and Culture | Atlanta, GA
• Art in the Atl | Group Exhibition | Hope Cohn Projects | Atlanta International Airport | Atlanta, GA

2018

• Till the Lights Go Out | Group Exhibition | Hathaway Gallery | Atlanta, GA
• Beyond Words | Group Exhibition | Swan Coach House | Atlanta, GA
• Nuevolution, Latinos in the South | Group Exhibition | Atlanta History Center | Atlanta, GA
• Shadow as Witness | Group Exhibition Curated by Erika Hirugami | Curator Love | Los Angeles, CA

2017

• Black, White, Red | Solo Exhibition | Westobou Gallery | Atlanta, GA
• Racecar | Group Exhibition | Zuckerman Museum of Art | Kennesaw, GA
• The Game Show | Group Exhibition | Lyndon House Gallery | Athens, GA

2016

• Decahedron | Solo Exhibition | Westside Cultural Arts Center | Atlanta, GA
• Hambidge Art Auction | Group Exhibition | The Hambidge Center | Rabun Gap, GA

2015

• (A)round November | Solo Exhibition | Ger-Art | Atlanta, GA
• Sprawl | Group Exhibition | The High Museum of Art | Atlanta, GA
• Hambidge Art Auction | Group Exhibition | The Hambidge Center | Rabun Gap, GA

RESIDENCIES

• GlogauAir Artist Residency | Berlin | Germany ( Summer ( 2023)
• Georgia College & State University | Artist in Residence ( 2023 )
• Art-Lab | High Museum of Art | Atlanta, GA (2016 )
• Hambidge Artist Residency (2016)

PERMANENT COLLECTIONS

• The High Museum of Art
• Georgia Cyber Center
• Fulton County Arts Center
• Facebook Atlanta Data Center / Newton County
• Microsoft Corporate Collection / GA
• Re/Max Real Estate Group
• Colony House

Gallery