Meet Gino Romero

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gino Romero. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Gino, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

Fake it till you make it!

When I was first starting out, I felt really out of place. Making the shift to talking about my artwork like a professional felt weird and forced, but I just pressed through and pretended like I’ve been doing this for years. I treated it like a drag persona and that helped me find my voice when talking about my work. During my MFA, I worked with a lot of artists who had very impressive careers and there were points were I felt intimidated and out of place, because I had made the transition into the arts later in my undergraduate degree. When I got to talk to them, I realized that the only difference between us was time. People will believe in your work as much as you do, so own it and be proud of it! Even if you feel you still have some growing to do, hold yourself like a professional and sooner or later, it stops feeling forced and a lot more natural

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am an artist that is interested in archives. What we consider archives changes what information we have access to and I am interested in empowering people to consider archives outside of institutions. For me, rituals, oral histories, architecture, and crafts hold so much history. They can tell you about materials that were accessible, the status quo, ambitions for the future. I am interested in bringing these alternative archives into a book arts conversation. Through this, I also explore ancestry, politics, social movements, and cultural histories.

I am currently working on my next set of books which will explore ideas of archiving through the diaspora. I will be focusing on my family’s history of moving from Venezuela to the US and how that has shaped my lived experience. These books will locate that lived experience within the larger structures that have informed it, such as the crisis in Venezuela, US politics, and religion. I am really excited about these books because they’re gonna be a lot more sculptural in form. I really want to push the idea of what a book can look like/what a book can be.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The three qualities that I felt were most impactful on my journey so far have been: kindness, persistence, and yapping! I always look forward to doing studio visits and getting to talk with others about my work and learning about what art others are making. Looking back, so many of the opportunities that I got were from having conversations with people and them remembering an opportunity they saw/an opportunity they wanted to create. You never know who is gonna be the one to offer you that next step, so be kind to everyone and be excited to share your work! With that, people are always busy, opportunities shift, and things happen so be kind to yourself throughout the process and keep at it! What’s yours will always get to you.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

My community has been the most helpful in overcoming challenges and building up opportunities. There have been so many times where the stress has overwhelmed me about trying to make it in the art world. I have thankfully had an amazing group of friends and peers who have continued to motivate me. My community has helped fund my ability to attend grad school, personal projects, but most importantly, they remind me I have the ability to succeed in this field. I am very thankful to the people in my life who have supported my work, especially in my earlier stages. I would especially love to shoutout my friend Victoria, who has been a saving grace throughout my artistic journey. If there is ever a problem, she has helped me ground myself and work on solutions. Thank you for everything Vicky! I can’t stress enough how important community is in the creative field. It truly makes a world of difference

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ginoromero.com
• Instagram: gino.aro