ARTIST STATEMENT
My work reflects a stream of consciousness, a flow of ideas that echo inspirational events, people and times in life. Inspirations that come from my travels across Central and South America, Europe and their timeless architecture, the Elizabethan and the Victorian eras, all blended together in a steampunk-pop surrealist-street art kind of way.
The key to my method is not to put too much logical thought into it, but instead, allow the viewer to freely interpret my work.
BIO
Tavo Quiros was born in Camarillo, California, September 4, 1985. Ten years of his childhood were spent living in a small southern California desert town called Palmdale, and spent most of his teenage years in Orange County, California. Quiros attended OTIS College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, with a semester abroad spent in Rotterdam, Netherlands at the Willem de Kooning Academy.
Dutch architecture, graphic design, illustration, and street art soon became sources of inspiration. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts (focused on Illustration) and took on a variety of odd jobs as both a graphic designer and illustrator, until deciding to focus on doing gallery work. Little did anyone know at the time, in 2008 Quiros rapidly developed severe psychotic symptoms as a result of what was later diagnosed as being a combination of Schizophrenia and Bipolar. The illness stunted his ability to focus, and ultimately lead to a three-year-long hiatus. In 2009, Quiros found himself living with his family in Fort Myers, Florida while continuing to experience vivid hallucinations and hyper-spiritual delusions. In 2011, doctors managed to stabilize him, and he began sketching, drawing, and ultimately-painting again. He soon began exhibiting his work in Miami FL at Gallery 212, marking the beginning of his career in the world of Pop Surrealism and fine art Illustration.
