 A Bit Of History
In the late 70's Rafael and his family migrated to South Florida From Sao Paulo Brasil. He was raised in Miami, a city he greatly appreciates for providing him with a constant supply of Social Criticism. When he was 18 yrs old, he moved to the Bay Area to study fine arts at the San Francisco Art Institute. Rafael's work can be characterized by his drive to examine issues faced by immigrants to the United States and his tendency toward social criticism. The initial direction of his studies was primarily influenced by the Dr. Seuss World War 2 political cartoons. After being exposed to this work, Rafael launched a series of his own interpretations of current events like "the Bay Area dot com craze", foreign relations and the Elian Gonzalez case. In every series, Rafael varies the medium and the dimension of his work. His first political ink drawing "New America" was a social analysis of "Operation City Sweep"; the gentrification of the barrios in San Francisco. Shortly there after, " War on Terrorism?" was created and "Where do you stand", a depiction of the divided city of Miami after Us immigration policy forced Elian Gonzalez' deportation back to Cuba. In the years that followed, Rafael's material evolved alongside the political landscape. His subject matter included The Catholic Church, The Drug War Propaganda, Fidel Castro and concept of consumerism. On a recent visit to Miami, Rafael was overwhelmed with the city's exaggerated development, the destruction of the Florida Everglades and the impoverished communities. One of his current series " Property For Sale" reflects this struggle and follows the changes taking place in many barrios in America due to the dramatic increase of foreclosures. Simultaneously Rafael also started "Intertwining Kingdoms" a refreshing series that stimulates viewer to explore their subconscious minds by immersing them in an abstract conceptual space consisting of free flowing lines and organic forms. These lines and forms have identities in and of themselves. They resemble the atmospheres of his memorable life occurrences, which derive from extreme human social behaviors.
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