(mellow music) (mellow music continuing) Growing up in Cuba, I spent a lot of time in the river.

I spent a lot of time with my grandfather.

I spent a lot of time with my cousins.

So the river was, and is, a big part of my life.

(mellow music continuing) A lot of the paintings come from memories.

I try to like close my eyes and remember all these, you know, like, memories with my grandfather, the smell of the water, the smell of the grass, of like, the horses crossing the river.

It's like, it's like being there.

(gently uplifting music) (gently uplifting music continuing) I do a lot of sketching, like writing down stories and then put like image on the text, and then I transfer those sketches to a painting.

I remember pretty clear all the color.

I remember the yellows.

Like the sun in the countryside in Cuba was like really bright.

So bright, it kind of burned the leaf.

The red, the pink, that's my palette, my palette like growing up, like I lived that, I remember that.

I'm from Amancio Rodriguez Las Tunas, which is a really small town in the eastern part of Cuba.

It's like really far away.

There was no TV, was no radio, was no cellphone at that time.

Feels like back in time.

So when I moved to Habana, I kind of like put aside that part of me.

And then, in college, we were like, oh, like the Bauhaus, which is really beautiful, Or da Vinci, or Michelangelo, many, many, many artists in the art history.

And you, as a young student, you want to be like them, you want to copy them.

But they already told their story.

When you realize it's not about copying them, it's about being yourself.

I have an amazing story to tell.

Why are we looking outside when we should look deep inside of us?

These beautiful people who already live here and they're like really beautiful, and cool things, let's tell that story.

(lively salsa music) Going to art supply here is always one of the most amazing experience I have.

I go there mostly every day.

It's hard maybe for people to understand, but where I come from, it's like none of those stuff.

(lively salsa music continuing) So coming here, you have like five or 20 different of one oil brand, or 20 different brush.

It's like a whole new world for me, the opportunities, and results.

I'm going to blend it in now.

I believe in the past I was more symbolist, and I think right now I'm moving toward, to surrealism.

(mellow guitar music) So that's why I like the paintings.

Sometimes I have like a dog jumping, or the fish in the air.

It's a balance between the mind and idea of a kid with the skill of like a trained professional painter.

I was like 10, 12 years old, running around, so everything is more low.

So the point of view is as a kid.

(light guitar music) The name of the show is "A Love Letter from Shapeshifter".

It's mostly a love letter to a smaller version of myself, to that kid growing up in the countryside with my grandfather.

I mean by shapeshifter someone who have to like shift himself, like me.

I have to change myself when I move from the countryside to Habana.

I have to shapeshift coming from Habana to be here in Portland.

But it also mean I change myself for purpose of like helping other people.

(nail hammering) Installing the show in the gallery is like really fun, because you see kind of like the pieces in the studio look different, their relationship.

Lower down the left side.

Like this story go with this one, this palette color go with this one.

(lively salsa music) It's kind of like the final finished product come true.

Like, you unveil it.

I think it's going to be great.

(chuckling) It's already great.

(lively salsa music continuing) The opening night of the show is really exciting.

You feel like a rock star.

Orlando.

Thank you for coming.

Also, you see people enjoying the pieces, and that's part of like the reward and the joyful part of being a painter.

So you see people like discovering new details, like, asking questions, talking, chatting.

It's kind of joyful seeing everybody come together into this spot.

(light guitar music) It's a love letter to my roots, it's a love letter where I grew up.

This is actually who I am.

I think my grandfather will be really happy.

I think he will give me that mischievous laugh he have, like, "I told you," or, "I knew," and he will say, "I'm very proud of you."

And I will say back, "I'm very proud of you, Grandpa."

Thank you for coming.

(no audio) - [Announcer] Oregon Art Beat shares the stories of Oregon's amazing artists, and member support completes the picture.

Join us as a sustaining member at opb.org/video.