My Story
From a very young age you'd find me sketching, writing stories, painting, and ruining my parents furniture with markers... (I am not proud of that). Me and my sister would play that we were owners of an art gallery... And little did we know I would end up dedicating my whole life to the arts while my sister became a makeup artist. Makes me wonder if deep down, from the very start, there's already a path designed for us all. One of the many mysteries unknown to the human mind.
I took an interest towards fashion design as a freshman in high school. Went to the university to pursue a bachelors degree on the field, had my collections walk down several runway shows, graduated, and a year later, published a Spanish poetry book where I incorporated a lot of my latest illustrations. In fashion school, I took several art history classes and felt extremely compelled by Romanticism. The more I learnt about that art movement, the more drawn I became. Artworks by Henri Fuseli, Albert Joseph Pénot, and Luis Ricardo Falero spellbound me. The interest and the fascination towards the Romantics’ ideologies and principles of studying what is beyond the material, human existence emerged in my works ever since, both seen in my paintings and writings.
One of my fashion illustration projects in fashion school consisted of capturing the essence and the mood of the fashion house of Givenchy's Ready-to-Wear Spring 2017 collection. I had to study the designer's choice of color and inspiration. The whole collection was heavily influenced by the alternate bands of color found in agate (a volcanic rock). The models wore necklaces with huge slices of agate as some of them wore these beautiful designs which textiles looked just like the inside of an agate. In order for me to capture the collection through powerful illustrations, I had to study how agates were formed, where they were found and what their insides consisted of. That study opened the door for me to become fascinated with minerals and crystals.
The more I learned and read about them, the more intrigued I became. What I like most about minerals is that they seem to be the window to a world that is so incredibly far from our reach. Sure, they are rocks that are formed from the very same earth we live in, yet they almost seem like they come from elsewhere. They are so ethereal to my eyes, to the point I can't help but study them painting after painting.
Crystals and minerals are very much present in my work as a means of exploring the “what if’s” through symbolism. I truly and firmly don’t believe this physical realm is all that there is. My art explores that curiosity and that fascination followed by the thought and the realization that none of us know absolutely anything once our time here reaches its limit. The unknown, the uncertain, the many many mysteries, that's what fuels my art.
All artworks and images found herein are protected by copyright law. The artist, Desiree Ruiz Velázquez, reserves all reproduction rights of the artwork and images in this platform. Nothing may be sketched, painted, photographed, reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without her express, written consent.