We’re looking forward to introducing you to Pierre Lucero. Check out our conversation below.
Pierre, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
Assuming leadership roles, especially being the quiet kid for a heavy chunk of my childhood. Public speaking is also a fear of the past at this point as presentations and breakdown of the creative process of my murals in front of large audiences have become frequent These past few years has really put me in positions to be the most experienced artist in the room more often than not. From creative circles, workshops at the high school I graduated from, and commission based murals for colleges and universities. Painting and drawing consistently has luckily given me the platform to teach my methods of approach at a professional level when working on murals. Even more so inspiring, is building a community of people who not only help give me ideas for said murals, but also get hands-on with me for the painting process. Anyone who’s helped me paint murals in the past knows how much time and work goes into these larger-than-life paintings. Sometimes the scariest part about painting or tasks in general is just starting. That first brush stroke can sometimes be the most difficult one of the day. These days I’ve found comfort in confronting what scares me head on. 9 out of 10 times these “scary” experiences are never as bad as you imagined them to be, and are a reflection of what you need to work on. Growth happens here. What you avoid controls you, until you decide to control what you avoid.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Pierre Lucero and I’m a self-taught artist from Aurora, Illinois. Home to the 2nd largest city in Illinois, right behind Chicago. My style of art is uniquely mine and originally forged through countless hours of doodles and hard work. I work between the thin lines of reference images and imagination, creating dream-like compositions that look as crazy as they do carefully planned and positioned. I draw inspiration from literally anywhere and anything, but cater to themes of anatomy, nature, the colorful and the weird. Acrylic painting, spray painting, and colored markers are my three main mediums to work with. I love to pack as much detail as I can in each piece, some of my favorite pieces of art are those with the most detail. Pieces that have something new to look at each time you return to them hold a special place in my heart. Currently, I am working on canvas paintings and have expressed interest in learning how to tattoo for the first time.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
I wouldn’t say there was an exact moment, but in the past 3 years alone I’ve traveled more than I have in my entire life. Being a vendor for an expo (shoutout Oddities and Curiosities Expo) that travels across the country has given me the opportunity to visit multiple states and experience not just drastic changes in scenery, but a newfound perspective of what brings us happiness and what our purpose is. I’ve traveled to each and every state on the west coast of the USA. Even traveled to Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Germany over the summer. I’ve met people of all ages and races. Conversed with low income or high income individuals and couples. People who sleep out of their vehicle for the night, people who are actively remodeling their homes, people with roommates, people without a home at all. Even through the illusion of societal hierarchy, I’m always devastated by the fact on how many people who are not actively chasing their dream or never even attempted at doing so. Some of the most miserable people I’ve met have been the richest and vice versa. Too many people operate on fear to have ever had the courage to make any sort of leap to a lifestyle you truly want. Happiness isn’t an item you can go to the store and buy, happiness is all around you. It’s in the flowers you miss looking at on your commute to work, the shapes in the clouds, the fresh air you breathe in, the hugs between family and friends. Life is such a blip, to have used the short time we have here focusing on things that stress you out or flexing material objects that you can’t take with you after death is a pity.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
The fear of failure. Not just the fear of failure as an artist, but the fear of failure in anything. Through time I’ve learned that these failures were only experiences. Failures are a sign that you took a chance to succeed, albeit the result. The only time these failures are truly failures is when we fail to learn from them. Living creatively, these thoughts of failures are only limitations that you set upon yourself. Some of my worst failures ended up opening multiple doors for even bigger success. Everything is perspective and a reminder that life is under no obligation to make sense to you. Being perceived, in general, is also a vulnerable feeling for an artist, especially when a lot of the expressed creativity is a reflection of what’s within. When it’s all said and done, I’ll be happy to have wrestled that fear to have pushed me from behind rather than to have stood in front of me.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
In this current day and age, the constant need to upload your artwork has mislabeled an artist to content creator. It’s forced people into rushing their work to meet their agenda. It’s also sucked the wind out of their sails when they don’t get the attention they thought they would have when posting their work. Personally, I never fancied a large following. I’ve told myself early that no amount of online praise will ever be higher than that of what I personally feel about my work. The best experiences are real life ones as well as the connections and conversations that artwork has given me. Some of the world’s most famous artists never even had social media, “likes”, “shares”, or “followers”. It’s a strange time to be an artist and it makes me sad to see thousands, if not millions, of others giving up their dreams because the image they posted didn’t even clear double digits in likes. But on the same note, it’s a good barricade to filter out the artists who are in it for the wrong reasons. The artists who truly care about the craft will always float, because passion and love are some of the strongest driving forces. Some of my favorite pieces I’ve created will never see the light of day, it’s the same type of artwork that’s equivalent to a writer’s personal journal. When you do anything from the heart, everything else will follow.
Another current topic is Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) in artwork. I have many mixed feelings about this one and am speaking as if we’re eliminating the environmental issues as a whole and focusing just on the A.I. aspect alone. Because, yes, the carbon footprint it is leaving behind is a disaster, but as a sole artist giving my opinion on the art aspect alone, it is beyond my control. With that said, I believe A.I. is only practical when used as a tool. I’m fully against the sale, reproduction, or replacement of an actual artist to it. When you can remove the prejudice against A.I. and realize it is not the enemy, instead the opposite, will you then reap the benefits. For example, having a black and white sketch of a drawing and asking an art generator to complete it with different color combinations you couldn’t decide over is a time saver in itself. I believe A.I. art will only further add value to a real artist with traditional methods. Eventually people will get over seeing “fake” art because A.I. cannot produce anything truly original. On a different level, it’s the reason why paintings are put higher on the pedestal inside museums than photography is. Because, nothing against photography, the medium only captures a moment in time. Paintings capture not only the moment, but the emotion in brushstrokes and the feeling of “wow the artist was once here” that just cant be recreated through A.I. or photography. Traditional art will always be on the top of the pyramid and there is no argument to convince me otherwise.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If immortality were real, what would you build?
Immortality is a very scary idea. I’m aware that my artwork will live longer than I will, but not forever. Nothing in the universe, or at least on Earth, it truly immortal. Some legacies last longer than others but the fate is always the same. And that’s not me sounding morbid, but just realistic. But if immortality were real, what would I build? The basic answer here would be to create artwork but I feel like I wouldn’t be doing humanity a favor if gifted with immortality. Anything would be possible at that point. I could swim to the bottom of the ocean and retrieve the Titanic piece by piece to reassemble on shore for historians to enjoy. I could fly to the moon and take photographs that of the flag planted in 1969 to prove the moon landing was real. Or I could break into Area 51 and discover the truths behind the facility for me to expose. Realistically though? I probably wouldn’t tell anyone of my immortality and cosplay as a vampire inside a castle in Romania. No, but actually though? I’d do anything that would be for the benefit of humanity. I’m not sure exactly what that would pertain to given immortality, but whatever it is that people don’t already do with the fear of death, I’ll be there!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pierrelucero
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pierreluceroart
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@pierrelucero
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@pierrelucero
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