Born in Mexico and raised in Colorado, Ramon Caballero’s fascination with art began when he was a child. Watching his older brother create led him to find passion within the realm as well. Currently balancing work, school, and creating, Caballero first started majoring in history. After having a fallout with the subject, he moved on to greater passions.
School is a large part of Caballero’s life. Throughout his educational experience, faculty have told him to do what he wants. His college experience allowed him to view art from a different perspective.
The harsh reality that many students in the art program won’t be able to find work the work did not scare Caballero from pushing forward. Being criticized to do better by staff only motivates him further. These positive experiences factor in to his desire to become an art teacher in hopes to have that same, important influence on others.
Most of his work comes from school assignments; however, Caballero’s personal work mainly delves into comics. Surrounding his creation with a touch of intimacy, his work encapsulates heavily in friendship and current events.
“The comic I’m doing now is based on zombies. It’s relevant now because the reason for the outbreak is because people don’t listen or don’t believe in it,” he says. “I feel like it could happen with zombies relating it to real-world issues and tying it to friendship, racism, and classism, politics.”
The pleasure of creating also lies within how viewers preserve the piece. The intention of creating work with profound meaning is not always there. Simply to create is worth enough. The meaning comes from the reactions of others.
“I think what constitutes good art is when a piece makes you feel something, brings something out of you, makes you think, or sparks a conversation. It makes me feel good that I was able to create a piece people resonate with. I think that’s what a good art piece is.”
Another important piece to highlight is the Portland postcard. The purpose of the task was to create a piece that was socially conscious. The postcard depicts scenes from the ongoing protests for Black Lives Matter.
Caballero’s work is inspired by various artists such as Keith Haring and Akira Toriyama. He even created a table influenced by Haring.
Through studying art in Fort Collins, Caballero’s skills come across through different mediums. In addition to studying art, he is also minoring in political science. Being a DACA recipient, Caballero took interest in politics.
“With the Trump administration trying to cancel DACA, it really affects me. I wanted to learn why and what goes into policies.”
Being a person of color studying and having a love for art has proven difficult. The art world is largely dominated by white males on college campuses. Many Latinx students do not pursue higher education. The reasons why vary; however, it is difficult to thrive when we’re told we’re less than. Compared to 2000 when only 49 percent of Latinx students were enrolled in college, the number has increased to 67 percent as of 2015.
“I want to represent my community and show everyone that we can do this also. I want to create and make something worthwhile.”
Caballero’s art shows personalized work reflecting how he interprets the world around him. He delves into topics relevant to him to spark a conversation or simply for the enjoyment of others.
“I’m trying to show that we can.”
