Cover artist Nilton Cárdenas of Cranston refuses to stand still. “I am constantly moving, and creating art,” he says in an interview at Sharks Peruvian Cuisine on Broad Street in Central Falls. And when he’s not putting a brush to canvas, or a pencil to a sketchbook page, he’s curating art exhibitions. For instance, Cárdenas […]
For the Rhode Island artist, educator and muralist, creativity has become a way to open doors, strengthen community and help others discover possibilities within themselves. For Nilton Cárdenas, giving back does not begin with charity. It begins with creativity. It can happen while painting a mural, organizing an exhibition, teaching someone who has never considered […]
For the cover of Motif’s Fall Guide, painter and muralist Nicholas “Niko” Tolentino of Cranston drew inspiration from his childhood days, he relates in an interview at White Electric Coffee Co-Op in Providence. Roger Williams Park in PVD was practically in his backyard. He loved to jump a fence and get to the gazebo behind […]
When cover artist Bob Eggleton of Warwick first got interested in art and started sketching nightmarish creatures, he recalls, an aunt asked him, “What’s drawing a monster gonna get you in life?” He’s spent the last forty-three years showing her, along with the rest of the world. Between 1994 and 2004, he won the Hugo […]
In his final year at college, cover artist William Schaff truly learned what it was like to work in a studio. “I developed a course of study in general fine arts with one of my professors, who would come see my work a few times a week, and the experience taught me how to work […]
The eggplant piece featured on the cover of Motif is the first completed work in Chenlu Hou’s Garden series, making it a perfect fit for this issue’s theme of Summer. A low-fire terracotta sculpture, airbrushed and hand-painted with underglaze, the work is titled Eggplant braised with long beans, long beans braised with eggplant. Alongside other […]
The tattoo artist who goes by Mish, of Fall River, MA, created this month’s cover. “I got the nickname when I was younger, and it just kinda stuck,” she says. Also, it stirs a little mystery into life. Mish was born in Watertown, NY, and, after graduating high school, attended the University of Rhode Island, […]
Cover artist Elliott Italiano of Jamestown is a self-made glass artist. As a young adult, Italiano’s interests centered on fashion, inspiring thoughts of pursuing a degree in luxury marketing and design. He relates to his past self by being “very particular about how I look,” the artist explains. “I believe that how you present yourself […]
Cover artist Mina Miki of Providence calls her baby blanket her longest friend. “His name is Blankie, but now he looks less like a blanket and more like a piece of tangled silk,” she says. That’s because it’s been with her since the day she was born. “It’s a version of myself as a very […]
“I want my artwork to resist this moment we’re in,” says Apollo Rios Lomba of Providence, who identifies as a Black Latino and transmasc, and created the cover for this issue. “Those and other identities will not change. They’ll just get stronger,” he emphasizes, referring to the White House’s continuing attacks on gender equality. His […]