Biography
Bryan Dominguez is a first-generation Mexican American and a survivor of acute
myeloid leukemia cancer. He was born and raised in Chicago, IL currently living in San Francisco, CA. Dominguez attended California College of the Arts - Oakland/ San Francisco for his BFA in Painting and Drawing. Dominguez has exhibited his work from Chicago to San Francisco across various places such as; Ralph Arnold Fine Arts Annex Loyola University, California College of the Arts Campus Gallery, The Exploratorium Museum, The De Young Museum, and other small pop up shows.
Dominguez’s work mainly uses acrylic, ground pastel medium, oil, and found alternative surfaces to create a painting. He is interested in disrupting a landscape and showing spirituality through surrealism. Dominguez shares land that he reminisces whenever one needs comfort. He listens to stories of ancestors and interprets the story as if he was present when the story is being told. Dominguez believes that his connection to the stories comes from not having many memories of his own when he was a child. He has a medical history of surviving leukemia cancer at the age of four which at the time has suppressed the trauma experience. To understand his lost memories he starts to listen to other people’s past, creating maps, immersing himself through community.
Artist Statement
Dominguez explores concepts of death, time, trauma, and spirituality. He explores death due to the spike of death count he had encounter during the pandemic and . Dominguez has wonder about moments in time where ha can not remember his childhood due to his medical history. He tunes in with his spirituality by asking the following: Where does a spirit live when we don’t think of them? Are they aware where the living is taking them? What are some blockages in his life?
Dominguez focuses on storytelling, painting , drawing , screen printing, and installation work. Their paintings and drawings are a way to visually document a narrative of his life. Some of his installations are focused on making an altars for Dia de los Muertos inviting people to have conversation on how to speak to an ancestor. Being Mexican-American allows Dominguez to experience the old and modernize culture upbringing one might experience in the United States of America.