We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rabbit Print a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Rabbit, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
For me personally, I have to have multiple avenues to keep my creativity alive. Mainly, it’s my interests and hobbies that keep my passion going (pre-hispanic Nahua culture, anthropology, my most recent media brain rot, Trigun, or whatever I’m into at the moment), but what adds the extra seasoning to my sazon is just intrinsically knowing what I like and don’t like. I make all my social media experiences as highly curated as I can keep them by exclusively following people I genuinely want to see their work on my feed. I make sure to follow and befriend people I also want to learn from and take the pieces that I love about them, and then I frankenstein them with my interests to make a big love letter to everyone who inspires me. Additionally, I’m just a big nerd in general, so no matter what I’m making, I like to research, compile notes, create a visual guide and references for myself to take inspiration from. Finally, and most importantly, is spending time outside. You can have all the visual guides in the world, but if you don’t go outside and experience the world that your references are photographing, then you won’t be able to truly understand or appreciate it for what it is. The photo of the beautiful morning blue sky and mountains will never compare to actually being there to feel the cold air lovingly fill your lungs while you stare in awe.
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’m a Mexican-American illustrator and a proud prieto/moreno. I really love my culture and my ancestors, and the supernatural side of life. People have told me before that my art feels nostalgic and psychedelic, as if it belonged in Alice in Wonderland. Nothing brings me more joy and fulfillment than someone telling me that my art makes them feel seen, loved, and inspired to reconnect to their respective ancestry. I also just love to make things with my hands (it’s a good way to document that you existed), especially if it’s something useful like clothes.I’m currently planning some new textiles designs, so if you’re interested feel free to check out my etsy: https://rabbitprintshop.etsy.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Truthfully, I’m still on my journey, but the three things that I have found to be my handiest tools in my career so far are being tenacious, resourceful, and genuine aka value friendships. Tenacity is the core of success when it comes to any art career. You have to become the big, ugly roach that’s hard to kill, truly (mala yerba nunca muere!). If you’re not bold and loud about your existence, constantly looking for new opportunities, keeping yourself busy/planning your next move, or at the very least not letting setbacks let you down, then unfortunately, you’re going to have a hard time getting anywhere with your art career. Being resourceful goes hand in hand with being tenacious. When faced with adversity you have a few options: give up, do the “normal” way or how most commonly approach things, or if you’re like me, someone with VERY limited resources, you gotta do some Mexican engineering to get by. When I taught myself to lino print, I didn’t have resources to print my linocuts, mainly not having enough money to buy a glass plate for my ink or access to a press. So what did I do? I went to the thrift store and looked for decently priced frames under $5, ripped it apart until I only had the glass (or sometimes I keep the trim if it’s cute enough), and cleaned it thoroughly– bam, you have a nice glass plate for your ink. For my press, I’m almost 200 pounds, so I figured that me standing on my engravings would do, and unsurprisingly, it was, there’s perks in being bigger than most of your family. But all these qualities really mean nothing if you’re not a decent person or try to maintain genuine friendships with people. I owe all my success to all my friends and peers who have supported me, constantly pushed me to expand my world, and offered or informed me of so many opportunities. I can not thank these people enough and every single one has a special place in my heart. My advice to any budding illustrator, especially those in art school, is to meet and make as many friends as you can, but be sincere. Do not approach someone because you only see their friendship as beneficial to you (seriously, don’t be that person, they can tell!). You reap what you sow, so if you put all your love and work into your career, yourself, and your loved ones, it will be a matter of time that you have a beautiful garden.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I’m happy to hear any pitches! Right now, I think I will do best in projects that promote an in-depth, nuanced exploration of Mexican identity, advocate for the improvement of our community by doing mutual aid work, fundraising, or policy making, or anything that simply gives us racialized folk the opportunity to be happy and to express ourselves, especially in a world that constantly only depicts us as tortured, or our bodies are used to fulfill other people’s sick fantasies of saving us (this last point can frankly be a MLA format essay by its own. If you want to talk more about this, hit me up!) I want to see a world where my kin and neighbors, regardless of their background, live in a just world where they feel safe, loved, and appreciated. If you feel the same, let’s take action to pick up what our ancestors left off, and make this dream into a reality. Feel free to reach me through instagram (@rabbit.print), twitter (TheRabbitPrint), or email (rabbit.print.art@gmail.com).
Contact Info:
- Website: rabbitprintart.carrd.co
- Instagram: instagram.com/rabbit.print
- Twitter: twitter.com/TheRabbitPrint
- Other: Etsy: etsy.com/shop/rabbitprintshop
