Meet Roxy Morataya | Freelance Graphic Designer & Illustrator

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

Hi Roxy, why did you pursue a creative career?
I grew up having difficulties making friends. I suspect it was due to being undiagnosed as autistic or some form of neurodivergence, and growing up in Santa Monica, CA. It was safe and “diverse” beach town, but the environment just always seemed to not embrace that diversity past a certain depth. My tendency to express my emotions very strongly (what could be described as temper tantrums) and asking a lot of questions, didn’t make me palatable to be around. So, my solace from being shunned and bullied was drawing and coloring. And when my third grade class learned about famous artists like Pablo Picasso, that’s when I made up my mind to work towards becoming an artist when I grew up.

I’ve been pursuing an artistic career ever since.

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.
I stick mostly to traditional mediums such as watercolor, ink and pencil. While using vector based and photo editing in the majority of my Graphic Design work. I combine these skills to create Paintings, Ink Drawings, Zines, Buttons, Broches, Flyers, Logos, and Apparel Graphics.

My illustrations were initially inspired by floral embroidery often stitched onto Huipiles from Merida, Yucatán, Mexico, where my mother’s family came from. Huipiles are tunics or dresses traditionally worn by Mayan descended peoples in Mexico, Guatemala, and Mayan regions of El Salvador. (Source: Wikipedia). I am still inspired by these and textile designs from 1960s to this day. Floral motifs stitched onto Huipiles were just one of the first things I would draw all the time as a kid. After college, I have made it a point to draw and paint more full-figured individuals. I saw there was a lack of people in artwork at that time (2011-2014) that had my body type, much less had body hair, stretch marks, or had my tan skin tone and darker.

My graphic design career started as a way to get semi-regular work as an artist, while I was looking for gallery and commission opportunities. Through internships, making flyers for events organized by friends and fellow creatives trying to “make it” in Los Angeles, I built up my design skills accompanied by my drawing and painting abilities. These led me to work with establishments such as Aztlan Athletics, Rosario Group and Bicycle Kitchen. I’m most proud of my design work with these groups because I was able to work with Black and brown people who consistently did and still a lot of work for their own local communities.

I’m now focusing on getting more of my traditional work out there through any pop-up art market that will have me in Los Angeles.

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?
If we’re spending the day together, and had the budget to do so, we’d start at wherever my sibling who currently resides near Highland Park, would recommend and accompany us. Most likely a spot that served Salvadoran or Mexican breakfast. Then take them to Little Tokyo to get sweet treats and Lunch. I recently tried some ready made meals from a Korean food restaurant inside Little Tokyo Galleria Market that included fried chicken, rice and ginger bits that were heaven.

Then we’d spend a few hours at Max Karaoke and go hit up a Blick’s Art Materials or Michael’s to stock up on art supplies, heading toward South / West LA to grab some tamales and sides at a Northgate market for dinner. Lastly we’d probably end the day in Hawthorne where my other sibling lives, eat our tamales and watch our favorite shows or movies.

If we had multiple days together, we’d probably also hit up Dockweiler Beach, Leimert Park, Kenneth Hahn Park, Natural History Museum, and Museum of Latin American Art.

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?
Dovelie Lovelie. Musician, Writer, Artist & Zinester. They have been performing around LA for years and I believe always deserves praise and a spotlight!

DoveA818@gmail.com

Instagram
@DovelieLovelie

Website: https://roxymorataya.com/

Instagram: @HeyRox___

Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/hirox

Other: https://ko-fi.com/heyrox https://www.etsy.com/shop/heyrox

Image Credits
Photos by me Portrait by Karen Constine