Meet Edgar (ender) Lara | Artist/Builder/Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Edgar (ender) Lara and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Edgar (Ender), can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born in East Los Angeles to a couple of Mexican immigrants from Ixtlan del Rio, Nayarit. At a pretty young age we ended up moving further inland where I was mostly raised in Redlands. As one of six siblings, we were always brought up to be very creative and handy around the house. We were raised in San Timoteo Canyon, where our upbringing was very unique. While my parents made sure that they worked hard enough so that we would never need anything, we still had to figure out how to make ends meet because we weren’t exactly loaded.
Both our parents were very creative, so a lot of the skills that I ended up building as an adult, I ended up learning out of necessity as a kid. We built where we lived from the ground up. Whether it was gardens, garage spaces/tool sheds, chop shops for cars, our own go karts, or our own cars. We had our hands and everything. While there is a romanticized notion around being raised like this, I couldn’t wait to never do this again lol. And, when I was old enough, I pursued my own career path far and away from all of that.
Once I figured out my career path as a firefighter/ smoke jumper in the forestry service, my next move was to figure out how to move my life in that direction. I ended up becoming an Army paratrooper with the 82nd airborne division out of Fort Bragg in North Carolina, as a means to catapult myself towards my intended career path. After eight years of service, I was able to pursue my passion of becoming a firefighter, but as luck would have it, my wartime injuries kept me from continuing down that path.
During my transition into figuring out what I wanted to do, I ended up crossing paths with an old friend, Craig Kitchens (@idiosports), and we started doing commercial contracting together. We eventually ended up in the Bay Area as the premier contractors for this big umbrella corporation and when Craig left to pursue his personal passions (of creating a brand/shoe specifically curated for professional disc golfing), I continued on as a commercial contractor. After refining, a lot of my skills, building my reputation, and having a better understanding of what my new personal passions were, I eventually made a deliberate choice to pivot and start to focus more on my creative/artistic ventures within my skill set.
This allowed me to dabble in spaces that allowed me to exercise my creative freedoms as a digital artist, a set designer, and a videographer. Over the years, I’ve built up a connection and friendships with so many incredibly talented people. This encouraged me to pursue being able to do videography for our Ikigai Arts channel, work on digital art creating album covers for vinyl releases (@samigrisafe), or collaborate on space food/kitchen prototypes for the future of space travel with NASA (@nonfiction.design).
It has been a very curated evolution of creative expression, support, and continual curiosity. I have been fortunate enough to connect with all of the right people along my journey.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My style of art is constantly evolving. I grew up in an environment that fostered so much artistic expression that I never fully dove into one thing over the other. Instead, I’ve been able to dip into a variety of different things that have constantly kept things surprisingly fresh and exciting. While I understand how that could be overwhelming for some people, I actually thrive in these kind of spaces. I tend to get easily bored doing the same thing over and over, so I love that I have been able to tap into being a builder, a digital artist, a designer, or special effects creator. Not only has it kept things new and interesting, but it has allowed me to work with so many different kinds of creative artists, visionaries, and master craftsman. I am perfectly content with the idea that I am going to always be learning, and growing as an artist, but especially as a person.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned along the way is stepping out of one’s comfort zone can be one of the most important things that I could emphasize anyone to do. I used to think that if something wasn’t 100% my idea or creation, that it (somehow) would take away from my artistic expression. But, one of the best lessons that I’ve learned is that the best things that I’ve ever created, worked on, or have done, have always been collaborations. My ego was too big for my own good, and I have sense curved that mindset. I love telling people “we” created this thing. It somehow feels cheaper when it’s just me.
Furthermore, while I love everything that I do, I have never worked harder at anything than this. Just because I love what I’m doing does not mean that it is easy, or that things are just going to come my way. I am my own biggest self-promoter, and hype man. While it absolutely helps to have the people around me also doing that, at the end of the day, I have to be on all the time if I want to continue to do these things. And, I want people to recognize that. Either way, I would have been busting my ass… I might as well be doing it for me, and the things that I love to do. It is a forever-work-in-progress.

I love creating sets, props, movie/music posters, and videos. So far I’ve been able to tap into all of this. Thanks to the wonderful community, collaborators, and friends I’ve surrounded myself by. It has been a very intentional path that I had set for myself many years ago. It feels very validating to be living it. And I cannot wait to see what this will turn into.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Part of why I live in the Bay Area, was for its proximity to everything. My move to the bay was so deliberate, that it actually pisses me off whenever people don’t take advantage of this incredibly magnificent geographically ideal place. The perfect trip would start at four in the morning heading to Bolinas. We would jump in our wetsuits, and watch the sunrise from our surfboards in the ocean. We would then grab Poké burritos from a nearby vendor.
Eventually, the trip would take us north towards Mount Shasta to the Trinity Alps Trail. It is one of my favorite hiking destinations. After spending some time there, we would head to Orville, near Chico, California, where we would meet up with an old friend under a bridge. He would rig us up in his gear, and we would do some bungee jumping for a little wake-up call. My truck is normally set up for traveling and camping, so as far as food goes, I would probably have a cooler full of food along with my pots, pans, and burners for prepping food along the way.
Next part of the trip would take us back south towards Lake Tahoe into desolation wilderness where we were hike into the five Lakes Trail for some overnight camping, and a quick hike back out towards the trailhead. We would then drive further east into Sparks Nevada, where we would meet up with my friend Bill Chamberlain (@uswolfrefuge_official), to help volunteer and take care of his wolves at his facility. Bill has a beautiful wolf refuge, where he rehabilitates, takes care of, and raises wolves. It’s one of my favorite places. Eventually, we would drive into Yosemite where would meet up with some friends who are Park Rangers/ employees there. We would hit a couple of trails, set up camp, and find some Hot Springs under the night sky.
We can worry about making it back home at some point and making an inevitable Denny’s stop along the way! A good Grand Slam is always in high demand.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Massive shout out to my emotional support animal, a.k.a. Ender (@ender_thedog). Post deployment, he came into the picture as discarded dumpster puppy at one of the lowest points in my life. His presence made me recognize that I had to stop being so selfish because I had to take care of him as well. Once that responsibility sunk in, I made very deliberate choices and changes that ultimately led me towards the path that I am currently on. A very positive and healthy one. He was a sweet boy. A pitbull Dalmatian mix. His IG page has since been turned into an animal meme page. RIP old boy. You are missed.

Huge shout out to one of my best friends, Craig Kitchens (@idiosports), who took me under his wing when I first started my new career path. This man is a workhorse! I was able to thrive in my initial stages as a contractor, because of the footprint that he left behind. His work ethic alone was so insane that when he left the bay, all I had to do was try to uphold a fraction his energy in order to stand out and thrive. Because of his initial presence, I have never had to bid for work and the recommendations have continually come. He went on to create (IDIO Sports/ disc golf footwear). I see his brand on ESPN now and I could not be more proud of him.

As far as one of my favorite passion project goes, a massive shout out goes to Alex Stagnaro (@ikigaiarts) Who showed up to foster and support this creative idea that we had brewing. The passion project was intended to help highlight and support local artists. Through his support we were able to utilize incredible equipment, and collaborate with a phenomenal Bay Area singer/songwriter, Nate Salman (@Waterstrider) as a sound engineer, and an incredibly talented editor/color grader from [and currently] Ukraine, Artem Kuzmenko (@artemkuzmenko.color) to create the Ikigai Arts (@ikigaiarts) Instagram, and YouTube channels, where we’ve been able to give back to the art community in ways that would help get them get the exposure that they deserve by making incredibly well shot, edited, and mastered videos of live performances.

Michael Phyllis (@instaphillis) has allowed me to take some incredibly creative artistic freedoms when it comes to set designs for theater arts and cabarets. I was , internally, referred to Michael by a longtime producer/collaborator, Jaleen François (@jaleenafied), who has been at the forefront of a lot of my support and creative expressions. Her passion for the arts linked us, and I’ve been able to work out of the Oasis (LGBTQ and Drag nightclub and cabaret) in San Francisco on some of the more creative, and silly builds for some more adult themed variety shows at one of the premier queer friendly spaces in the bay. He’s the creator, writer, and director of a very popular show called Baloney (@sfbaloney), as well as Pop Culture Immersives (@popcultureimmersives), which has created the wonderfully immersive parodies Pride in Gotham, Thighs Wide Shut, Sqream, Sunnydale Prom, and are currently taking auditions for Jurassiq Parq. Through this incredibly wonderful community, we actually just made a silly slapstick horror/ adult film, that is currently screening across the country through Dan Savage’s Hump Fest for its 20th anniversary run. Written by Michael Phillis, directed by Siyu Song (@i.siyu), produced, by Jaleen François, with director of photography Niño Ellington (@ninoellington). At this point, it just feels like all of my best and the most fun jobs are just friends collaborations. It’s called Camp Baloney. It’s a silly good time.

A massive transition into my current artistic ventures is definitely credited to Laura Weinbach and Anton Patzner (@foxtailsbrigade), who reached out about helping create some video content for their album release promos. This led to Nate Salman (@waterstrider) and Emily Afton (@emilyaftonmusic) eventually following up. I was able to help Nate create a fully immersive concert performance that really highlighted a lot of my skills as a builder through The Waterstrider immersive concert experience, which was at the Rick Shaw stop in San Francisco. I was able to turn the rickshaw stop into a mystical forests, using so many of the elements that I am normally dedicating one of my skills to at a time. That show was very well received, sold out, and opened up a lot of new opportunities for me. Immediately after, Emily Afton reached out for me to do a stage design for her (CIRCAA) album release tour, which I was then able to join her on with a pair of giant angel wings to display and highlight the evenings. This has opened up more opportunities for me to transition my line of work in this creative direction. More artists have reached out about collaborating in such a way. I am currently in negotiations for some future projects.

Thanks to incredible producers Patrick Aguirre (@sonichor_), Jeff Kolhede (@25thstreetrecording), and Grammy Award winning producer and sound engineer, Kevin Mccann (@kvnmccann), the videography work that I’ve been able to shoot, now also sounds incredibly beautiful as well. I cannot imagine a better group of collaborators to be surrounded by. They are masters of their craft, and have been equally supportive of the local art scene and, especially, the independent artists.

When it comes to highlighting my digital art, I have to give a massive shout out to my brother, Oscar Lara (@daydreamingrobot). He has been a massive source of inspiration, and one of my biggest collaborators thus far. Anything I do, I run by him before I make any final decisions. His brain works on another realm and level. I could not imagine a better source of inspiration. When I was contacted by my friend, Sami Grisafe (@samigrisage) about being in all woman’s football documentary, I was already honored enough to be a part of such a beautifully inspirational story. But, when she asked me to do an album cover for her soundtrack release, Oscar was the first person I reached out to. Love you, brother.

Last, but not least, Mardis & Phnam Bagley (@nonfiction.design). After being asked to do a TED talk regarding the culinary experience of future space travel, they were able to participate at an event curated by NASA to try to find the next best prototype for such ventures. As it turns out, when you’re making a prototype, you don’t need to have things be airtight. Aesthetics was the name of the game, so, I was brought on for my building skills, and artist background to try to create the look of such a hydroponic station, and kitchen. Through a series of wonderful collaborations, we were able to make a couple of functional modular units for CNN to do some coverage on, and will be displayed at the NASA Ames research welcome center, soon. Their design and innovation firm is set up to try to help create science fiction ideas into real life. It’s been incredibly cool watching them work with such amazing minds and innovators for the betterment of our future. I am honored to call them friends.

Website: https://linktr.ee/ender1138?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=79d2594d-19bb-4be7-be91-9ddac0b92580

Instagram: @ender1138 / @ikigaiarts

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@ikigaiarts?si=e8kJbrQ9Zg8FQJ4O

Other: Sami Grisafe @samigrisafe / @openfieldmovie

Non Fiction @nonfiction.design

Oscar Lara @daydreamingrobot

Patrick Aguirre @sonichor_

Craig Kitchens @idiosports

Michael Phillis @instaphillis / @popcultureimmersives

Emily Afton @Emilyaftonmusic

Nate Salman @waterstrider

Kevin McCann @kvnmccann

Artem Kuzmenko @artemkuzmrnko.color

Bill Chamberlain @useolfrefuge_official

Jeff Kolhede @jeffkolhede

Laura Weinbach & Anton Patzner @foxtailsbrigade

Image Credits
1. Pop Culture Immersives /Pride in Gotham
@popcultureimmersives

2. Waterstrider immersive concert experience
@waterstrider

3. Jeff Kolhede / Live from Druid Heights
(YouTube)

4. Emily Afton /CIRCAA tour wings
@Emilyaftonmusic

5. Camp Baloney / HUMP film festival
@sfbaloney

6. NASA space kitchen prototype
@nonfiction.design

7. Ikigai Arts /Bayside project
@ikigaiarts

https://youtube.com/@ikigaiarts?si=YvmMx9MMMrBynGxo

8. Sami Grisafe / Open Field movie soundtrack
@Samigrisafe
@openfeildmovie