Iconic Moments Captured in Pixels: Interview with MAESTRO

MAESTRO is a hyper realistic, black-and-white artist based in Santa Barbara, California. Originally from Valencia, Spain, MAESTRO received technical training from the Stuart Weitzman School of Design before beginning a dynamic career as a visual artist and architect. MAESTRO has worked for firms such as the Bjarke Ingels Group (B.I.G.) and had artistic collaborations with many LA-based creatives, including DOPEHAUS STUDIO and NeueHouse Hollywood. His work has been shown, among other venues, at the Charles Addams Fine Arts Gallery, the :iidrr Gallery in Manhattan, Graffiti Library in Los Angeles, The Victorian in Santa Monica, Just Another Gallery in Philadelphia, and the Sullivan Goss gallery in Santa Barbara. His first solo exhibition, “LOADING” will open at the HOMME Gallery in Washington D.C. on April 3rd, 2025.

When did you transition from your background in architecture and design to pursuing fine art? What prompted the shift? 

I started to move into art when I immigrated to the United States from Spain in 2021. I had been sketching for my architecture practice for many years, but never considered it a possible career. I was anxious for the first few months in a new country, and struggling to rebuild. One day, I just started drawing and didn’t stop until I had a finished piece.

It was mostly pixels, at first, though after a while I branched out into other subjects. My interests were pretty clear from the beginning: iconic images or figures, seen through a hyper realistic but distorted lens. It became something of a meditation practice and obsession, then over time grew into an essential part of my life. It wasn’t until the first one sold, for more than I ever expected, that I realized I could make art a part of my professional life, too.

Since I still work as an architect, I see my practices as somewhat intertwined. The best architecture is art, and the best art immerses you in the way that architecture does. As I continue to grow both practices, I hope to find more and more ways to creatively merge them.

Congratulations on your first solo exhibition opening in April with HOMME Gallery! Tell us about the work that will be on display and how you prepared for the show. 

Thank you very much! I was really excited to connect with HOMME Gallery. This will be the official debut of my “LOADING” series, so it’s the first time all my work of this kind will be exhibited together. The pieces are all in my signature pixelated style and are a range of sizes from 24x10 to 34x44 (inches).

The pieces in this show are the result of two years worth of drawing, so it's been cathartic to watch my body of work grow into something that can fill an entire gallery. I’m based in California, so shipping cross-country has been a bit nerve-wracking, but I’m really looking forward to seeing it all come together.

HOMME Gallery has historically been a place that welcomes experimentation, so I will be incorporating an augmented reality element alongside my physical drawings, inspired by my background in architecture. 

As an architect, I tend to always think dimensionally, even when I am drawing on a flat surface. Though my drawings are entirely in black and white, I see each pixel as having a certain “value” depending on where it falls on the black-to-white gradient. Basically, to me, each physical drawing also represents an abstract cityscape—they are arrested moments of digital time but also a blueprint for an emerging digital world.

These digital worlds will be accessible to visitors through QR code, and will accompany each piece’s formal description at the gallery.

Can you share the story behind how you first became interested in drawing in a pixelated style? How has this series evolved over time? 

From the beginning of my art career, I was drawing pixels. I think it had something to do with the fact that, when I arrived in the United States, I had a really cheap phone plan and the images on my phone were always “loading” and unclear. Pixelated images seemed to reflect my life at that moment—a little bit stuck, a little bit unsure—and drawing them became a way for me to process my own frustration. 

At first, I was intrigued by how much power a malfunctioning device could have over my emotions, and from there the major concepts of my art naturally evolved. The first pixelated drawing I completed was a frame from “Steamboat Willie,” Walt Disney’s 1928 cartoon (which was the debut of his Mickey Mouse character). I experimented with drawing isolated figures after that, but kept coming back to the idea of a frozen frame. I realized over time that my real interest is in certain historically significant moments—photographs or frames that have captured an “iconic” event or person in a way that stands the test of time. Pixelating these images, for me, is a way of exploring our nostalgia for the past while commenting on the insatiability of our digital present. 

What are your favorite tools for drawing?

Using quality materials is important to me. I believe that an artist’s choice of materials can be just as significant as their choice of medium. Because of the amount of time I invest in drawing each one of my pieces, I don’t feel comfortable unless I know I am using materials that will last. 

For my drawings, I always use technical black pens (UNI Fineliners), and cold-pressed archival paper (acid-free, cotton). I also take great care to frame my pieces in the way I think best showcases them.

I enjoy experimenting with other materials, like charcoal and oil pastels, and I still keep a sketching notebook with me always. But I prefer to keep these less-controlled tools for when I am brainstorming.

What do you see as crossovers between fine art and architecture/design? 

I have always viewed architecture and art as fluid distinctions, to some extent. The best architecture is art—just the kind you’d want to inhabit—and contemporary art is constantly pushing the boundary of work we simply observe and work that asks us to step “inside” it in one way or another. I think augmented reality is a major area of crossover between the two, which I explore in the AR cityscapes that accompany each of my pixelated drawings, but there are many others. Sculpture is also a natural crossover between the two realms, with a long history. I am eager, as my practice expands, to bring my pixelated style to sculpture as well, and I will be introducing a pixelated version of the Venus de Milo at the HOMME Gallery to that end.

Are there other projects besides your solo exhibition that you're working towards at the moment or what goals do you have for the rest of the year? 

I’m eager to form lasting relationships with galleries on both the East and West Coast, so finding people who understand my work is a priority. I am currently in talks with a couple of galleries about future exhibitions and hope to be announcing that soon. It’s also a big goal of mine to cast my first large, pixelated sculpture in either bronze or copper this year—so that’s in the works, too. 

Beyond that, I would really love to find a few unusual creative opportunities. For example, I’m seeking fellow artists who might want to join in on pop-up exhibitions in major cities. Stuff like that really excites me, as would any opportunity to showcase work that celebrates Spain.