Episode 530 / Raul De Lara

(Born in Culiacán, Sinaloa, México – 1991) Raul De Lara is a sculptor who explores the emotive and storytelling qualities of materials. He is interested in how social, cultural and spiritual qualities can be imbued into wood through the act of carving. He practices traditional hand carving and power carving techniques through the visual language of nature, humor, and magical realism. His research preserves, honors and propels forward traditional uses of wood while combining them with new developments in the global industry of woodworking.

Raul immigrated from Mexico to the United States at the age of 12, and has been a DACA recipient since 2012. His work reflects on themes of belonging, queer identity, and his im migrant experience. He is currently living and working in Queens, NY.

Raul received his MFA in Sculpture + Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2019, and a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin in 2015. Recent solo exhibition sites include The Contemporary Austin, SCAD Museum of Art and Gaa Gallery. His work has been included in exhibitions nationally and internationally at the Tucson Museum of Art, Wharton Esherick Museum, The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture, The Armory Show, Hermès Paris, Alexander Berggruen Gallery, The Hole, Honor Fraser Gallery, and Reynolds Gallery, among others.

Raul ’s selected awards include the Maxwell/Hanrahan Award in Craft, the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Craft/Sculpture, and Art in America Magazine’s Top 20 Global New Talent, as well as residencies at Wendell Castle Workshop, Silver Art Projects, LMCC Governor’s Island, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Ox-Bow School of Art, Penland School of Craft, and Chicago Artists Coalition, among others.