Miguel Machuca: Drawing Light from Darkness

Miguel Machuca is a local artist. Although he was born in Guadalajara, he came to this country with his family at the age of 10. Now around 40, he has been an established artist in San Jose for several years, as well as working in programs for autistic and at-risk youth. 

He is currently having a show at the Triton Museum in Santa Clara called "Drawing Light from Darkness." It lasts until October 21, 2018. Check it out.

Human Nature, 2014

Machuca's work comes from a spiritual point of view. It combines universal and personal symbols to express the unity of life. Here we see animal organs, leaves, an embracing horn, a penetrating eye, and a brick wall that transforms into a universal web—all heading toward the infinite.

Fire within You, 2015

Machuca has developed a unique technique for applying charcoal to a white painted panel. He draws each form in silhouette, then uses an electrical eraser to model the silhouette by exposing the white underpainting as highlights. He literally draws the light out of darkness. Likewise, meditation—here represented by positions of the hands—reveals an individual's inner light.

Sister Whisper, 2016

Sister Deception, 2016

Sister Whisper and Sister Deception are a pair of imaginary figures representing choices. Sister Whisper  enchains her pathetic follower with dreams of death. Sister Deception inspires the wretch to take action and start building. Together, they are called Orchestrated Religion, Part 2.     

Orchestrated Religion, Part 1, 2016

Orchestrated Religion, Part 1 rises above the dichotomy presented by the two Sisters. It asserts strength, confidence and wholeness, with a combination of symbols both familiar and strange.

Manifest Your Destiny, 2016

Machuca uses his impressive draughtsmanship to render visions and symbols as though they were real. Here we have vision and power in the eyes and hands, with destiny represented by constellations, a wheel, and an embracing horn. 

7th Sense, 2018

A skull penetrated by spikes, an array of trophy horns, connecting to nopales cactus, a chest with a radiant lock in the center, a hand with a hole, a hand with a spike through it, an array of flowers with eyes in the centers, each eye penetrated by a spike—it's a puzzle that will keep the imagination bouncing around for a long time. I'd say it's about death and life being part of the same process.

Embrace Reality, 2018

This painful and frightening image has to do with accepting the need to work on one's self, as with the spike, in order to make an impact on the world, as with the hammer. The draughtsmanship is very skillful and evocative.

Human Body Evolving Rose, 2018

Starting at the bottom, we see the mystical number 3, a key, a strong triangle that firmly supports ribs and organs, a rose, a wheel that evolves into a halo, two symmetrical roses, and on top, a happy parrot. This is about the stages of development in the journey toward beauty and truth.

Full Consciousness in the Divine, 2018

A caterpillar is like a fetus because it is about to burst into life. These two are embraced by lovely leaves growing from the fertile earth. The plant wears a crown of planets, connecting the natural world and human life and with the universe at large.

All these artworks have many more symbols and interpretations than I have indicated. Because of their multilayered symbolism and their evocative draughtsmanship, these works stand on their own, without any biographical back story. However, once you read the Artist's Statement, also mounted on the gallery wall, the works take on an even larger significance.  

• "This work is about my journey, before and after my experience with cancer. In January 2015, I was diagnosed with stage 4 Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cancer, and with only a small percentage of survival. Although, this was not the spark for this show, I started on my body of work from a spiritual point of view and while I was working with the Triton Museum towards a solo exhibition, cancer made its appearance in my life, and I was hospitalized. Everything stopped until I was either better or dead. Through the days, I worked on a collection of ideas, drawings and sketches that could describe the internal bliss of a perpetual cycle of fear and doubt. My art saved my life. I caught myself in and out of a state of consciousness."

Machuca felt that having the goal of creating his first solo museum show gave him the motivation to generate personal strength to overcome cancer. The Triton Museum, and in particular its Deputy Director Preston Metcalf, deserves applause for recognizing Machuca's talent early in his career, and for encouraging him during his treatment and recovery. It's a great story.

To October 21