Meet Pierre Lucero | Artist/Muralist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Pierre Lucero and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Pierre, what do you think makes you most happy? Why?
Finding the giant sized box of Reese’s Puff cereal on sale at my local grocery store, getting that last piece of corn stuck between your teeth out, stopping the microwave at 00:01 seconds, waking up to realize that nightmare was just a dream, finding the matching sock while putting away laundry, cookie dough ice cream, sunny weather, friends, family, & (surprise) creating art.

Happiness comes in many forms but if we’re staying on track with why you’re probably reading, creating artwork is in it’s own lane of happiness that has yet to be replicated in terms of dopamine release. Its been a personal therapy & has doubled as a side hustle for a good chunk of my life now. I’ve found the power of influence & overall happiness public art can bring to a community to be one of the more important parts of being an artist. The money, recognition, & ego-related push that comes with the territory has never meant anything to me. Well… the money is nice & pays the bills to help keep a creative lifestyle, but its never the priority. Create from the heart & the rest will always follow.

I’m most happy to create with full creative control & have it met with positive feedback. Nothing fulfills me more than painting something I truly feel a connection to & having someone say it made them feel a certain emotion. Or hearing that you’ve inspired someone in a positive way. The butterfly effect is powerful & if my artwork can have a ripple effect through numerous artists then I’ve fulfilled my goal in terms of happiness.

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.
Explaining my art has been an ongoing struggle for myself. I’ve often made the comparison of trying to unravel a dream you just had. Sometimes I paint objects/symbols that have real-life inspired meanings, other times it just beams into my head & makes its way onto the canvas without explanation…there is no in-between. My artwork usually begins without an actual image or idea in mind. I’ll start somewhere, most often in the middle, & expand outwards like some type of exploding organized chaos that leaves me scratching my head at what I just birthed. My horizon line is non existent (or at least takes the form of a circle) which allows me to throw the laws of gravity out the window.

I’m very much inspired by skulls, human anatomy (especially hands), melting objects, colorful patterns, screaming mouths, eyeballs, optical illusions, guts, space, nature, animals, vibrancy, fluorescence, cartoons, & horror. I think the work I create walks a very thin line of playful & twisted. If I didn’t have such a colorful attracting palette, it could easily fall under the category of dark art.

I’ve gotten to where I’m at today the same way many “talented” artists have gotten there: through hard work, patience, & persistence. There’s no shortcuts or hand-me-downs in the art world. Many sleepless nights & declined invitations to hangout with friends/family had been sacrificed in the process. Luckily for me, I have never been a fan of the party/club life so the trade of staying inside & being a hermit in creation has always been the easy choice. Too much of anything is always harmful, but finding the positive balance of beneficial addiction & using it to keep yourself creative is key to progression.

Recently I’ve been told that my style is recognizable on a handful of occasions, which means the world to me since finding that style & originality has been a strong goal of mine since day 1. Its extremely important to discover a style that distinguishes you from the rest & to stick with it. Its not an easy task by any means but if you want to be successful in the art world then this must be a priority within your work. Its the reason you’re able to walk into a museum & tell the difference between a Picasso & a Dali. Without originality, you’ll be drowned out with the oversaturated unoriginal art that has already been in rotation for several years. Painting a flower the way it appears in front of you is a skill that anyone can achieve, but painting it in a way that only you can perceive it is what will set you apart from the sheep.

Again, discovering a style from scratch is no walk in the park, but in the famous words of Snoop Dogg “.. once you be you who could be you but you”.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My best friend is already familiar with the area & knows all the ins & outs…& a week long trip!? They better have a hotel room somewhere or someone else to hangout with because laaaawd I wanna go home & paint! But I’m from Aurora, IL. & I’d be hopeful that they’d be visiting for First Fridays. The city really comes alive that day of the month with numerous food trucks, activities, & live performances scattered throughout the downtown area. As for food, I’d recommend Chupacabra on Broadway, Taqueria El Tio on River St., & if you’re drunk after midnight, Los Comales on Farnsworth. Speaking of drinks, I’d highly recommend McCarty Mills Taproom on River St.!

I also have 3 public murals if they were interested in seeing those. “Azteca” at the Muebleria Sergio Furniture on Downer, “Alebrijes” on New York St., & a temporary mural that’ll be gone by October-ish of 2023, “A-U-R-O-R-A” near the intersection of Lake & New York St. (Lot H). If they weren’t tired of me dragging them around the city & didn’t think I was coming across as a narcissist by then, I could show them 2 other murals located indoors. “Latinx” inside the Latinx Resource Center located at Waubonsee Community College on River St. & “Nightmares” located inside the Basement of the Dead on New York St.

But I’m more of a nature guy so I’d love to show them my favorite forest preserve that is Oakhurst, or go on a walk/bike ride either on the Fox River Trail or the V.L. Gilman Trail.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Shoutout to all the dead artists that never had a chance to meet their full potential, or had their lives cut short before they reached their prime. Life is extremely fragile & too many of us take it for granted or don’t realize how many years have passed until its too late. Stop living like tomorrow is promised & start working on making your dreams a reality today. Not tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, today!

But the dead have their flowers, more so than the living do, so shoutout to all my close friends & family who keep me sane. I love my alone time more than the next person but I’m aware that I have to come out of that cave to keep my sanity on a balanced level. Not just friends & family, but to the ever growing community of my hometown of Aurora, IL. I’ve met a lot of like-minded individuals with similar goals the last few years that have motivated & inspired myself in some way shape or form.

Shoutout to anyone who speaks their mind & lives their life freely, unafraid of what others might think of them. There’s too much fake in the world & I appreciate the rawness that comes with individuals. The most beautiful part of someone’s personality is all their imperfections, it’s what makes them relatable & human. When you finally decide to take that mask off & live life without judgement, only then will you find true happiness.

& shoutout to the obscure, weird, strange, colorful, & unpredictable part of life. Whether that be a person in itself or not, the randomness of not knowing what’s around the next corner is the wild card that keeps life entertaining.

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