Padilla returned to El Paso at the age of five to begin his formal schooling, and it was on this side of the border that his interest in art was first awakened. In kindergarten, his school arranged for a field trip to the old El Paso Museum of Art on Montana Street. He fondly recalls the strong impressions paintings by European masters (such as those found in the Kress collection) made on his young mind. “I just fell in love with what I saw, and from that time on, I was determined to become an artist,” he confides. Daniel’s father, who was an accomplished painter in his own right, also encouraged his son’s dream by instructing him in the fundamentals of art such as drawing and composition. “Although he never gained recognition for his own paintings, my father was the primary influence on my work until his death in 1994,” Padilla relates.
Padilla’s years at Bowie High School in El Paso were eventful times in terms of his art career. Ricardo Armendarez and Ruben Olvera invited the sixteen year old to assist them in painting a mural at Thomason Hospital, and at seventeen he shared the walls of the Lincoln Center gallery with the pair during his first professional exhibition. Nationally acclaimed Chicano artist Gaspar Enriquez also played a major role in guiding and shaping Padilla’s artistic future. Observing the promise in his student’s work, Enriquez invited the young artist to be come a member of Juntos, an Hispanic Art Association whose membership roster boasts well-known artists like Marta Arat and Antonio Peña. His first joint exhibition with Juntos took place at the City Hall Gallery, and Padilla proudly notes, “As an 18 year old, it was really impressive to be able to have my work hang alongside that of such accomplished artists.”
Although he had been painting for more than a decade, Padilla was still struggling to find an identifiable style when, in 1997, he first approached Studio W Gallery owner, Wayne Usrey about representing his work. “I had a difficult time getting into that gallery,” Padilla shyly comments. “In the beginning I showed Mr. Usrey my Southwestern paintings because I thought he would like that style. However, he refused those so my next approach was to bring a more contemporary style of work.”
Impressed by both his potential and his determination, Usrey eventually agreed to represent Padilla’s work. “His technique still needed refining, but I could see that he painted from the heart. Because his images reminded me of Mexican Folk artists, Tomayo and Rivera, I encouraged him to look inside himself to find inspiration.” This advice set Padilla on the road to discovering a style that would set his work apart from that of other young Hispanic artists of the region.
“Music has also been an important part of my life”, Padilla confides. “This appreciation came through my father who was a great guitarist. At sixteen, I played with ‘Nosotros,’ a group of Juarez students associated with the University of Chihuahua.” Padilla was pulled between the two worlds of music and art until an unusual incident occurred. “I did a painting my father liked very much, and one night he woke me telling me, ‘I’ve been thinking about that painting. It’s awesome, and I really believe that you can become a better artist than a musician.’ That was when I began to paint in earnest, but the love of the guitar is always in my head, and this is why I use it so frequently in my paintings.”
Like his love for the guitar, most of Padilla’s inspiration is unlocked from his imagination. “I like to capture the moment,” he notes. “For instance, as my daughters play, watching their expressions becomes a very emotional experience for me. Diana is ten and Pricilla is five. Although I use them as my models, when I am finished the figures in my paintings appear more generic.” He emphasizes, “I can paint portraits when I choose to do so, but in this instance, what I seek to capture are universal emotions rather than an exact replication. Many of my paintings are also based on memories. I think this is true for all artists. We paint our dreams, memories, fantasies and even our fears, and these are expressed in a way that only we can see from within. When I transfer these ideas to canvas, I am giving a visual form to those feelings.”
In 1998, Hal Marcus invited him to join his artists’ group. Marcus comments, “Daniel interprets the Mexican/American experience through a style that is inspired by some of the modern Mexican masters such as Siqueiros and Rivera. He is a very sensitive person, and it is this wonderful quality that comes out in his paintings. Compared to other Mexican artists in the region such as Mauricio Mora and Francisco Romero, Daniel’s work is much more soulful. Although his palette has a lot of dark, muted tones, his subject matter has an introspective beauty which many art lovers find appealing.”
|
