Meet Ramon Mas

We recently connected with Ramon Mas and have shared our conversation below.

Ramon, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

Being born from 1st generation immigrants that worked to provide me with a home, schooling and food, I saw my family labor tirelessly. My grandfather owned and operated over 10 Food and Beverage locations throughout his lifetime. My father was rarely still, a natural salesman always working on a new project and building a company. And my mother always dedicated her full self in whatever she put her heart and mind to. Because of their example, I am who I am today.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

As RUEM, I am a MultiMedia artist that fuses Pop Culture, Portraiture, Urban Environments, Tropical Motifs, and Music with vibrant colors to portray my artistic visions. This is brought on by the use of a color palette inspired by the Caribbean and the Florida Art Deco Period as a nod to my heritage.

It is common to find the use of spray paint (as a way to pay homage to my younger days), acrylics, oils, and gold leaf in my art pieces. And through these pieces, I am really giving life and expression to my subconscious — which never turns off. And I am usually paying tribute to pop culture or a figure within it, someone or something that has impacted me in my continued development as a human, some social commentary, or just a beautiful story or vision that I want to bring to life.

This year began with several mural projects throughout Miami and my participation in a number of local Art Festivals. I plan on releasing my own T-Shirt line this year and will continue to work on more art pieces. Slowly but surely, I am building out my catalogue for all to experience and enjoy physically and virtually.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I would say that the 3 most impactful things that have developed my artistic journey would be Mentorship, Experimentation, and Limiting my Ego.

In 2019, I met a prominent artist David “LEBO” Lebatard, and we instantly became friends. Once he learned about my artistic past, he challenged me to return to my passions and offered his mentorship. He proved to be a catalyst for me, pushing, challenging, and guiding. He awoke something long dormant which I’m eternally grateful for. And ever since then, I haven’t stopped. And because of his thoughtfulness and his help, I never turn my back on a mentorship opportunity to others.

Experimentation leads to discovery. And having a sense of play, makes experimentation fun. So experiment with different mediums, subject matter, composition, tools. The greatest art pieces are those that test the rules, push them to their boundaries and even break them. This will help you find your visual voice and allow you to have fun while doing it.

When I was a teenager and in my early 20s, I would sneak out of my house and paint my name on walls that didn’t belong to me. I did it for the thrill, for the challenge, and for the opportunity of artistic expression. But as I grew older and looked introspectively, I realized that I did it to feed my Ego. Fast forward to today, I go into art and express my thoughts and emotions, but also think about the viewer and their interpretation of a piece. Channelling the artist of old, Marcel Duchamp, I feel that the spectator plays a crucial role in the completion of the artistic creation.

So I feel that by checking your ego, having fun and experimenting through your art, and finding or being that most important mentor, the journey will be an amazing one.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

The gatekeepers are the one obstacle or challenge that all creative professionals face. Not everyone has your same vision, and sometimes we have to push through with an overwhelming force to make our voices heard and have our images be seen. I find myself striving to build a community where the gatekeepers won’t matter. Knowing that they will always be there, but eventually become obsolete.

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Ramon Mas

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