Mark Puente - Nailivic Studios

Inspired by imagery from the Mexican Lotería game, Día de los Muertos and folk art from around the world, I create hand-drawn images of ""modern folk art."" Using a laser-cutter, I transform these images into colorful and textural wall art. The process begins by asking what story I am trying to tell and what message I want to share with the world around me. Once I figure out the overall narrative, I begin a series of sketches that bring those ideas to life, slowly honing in on the final design. I scan and convert the final image to an inverted vector file that my laser-cutter can understand. I paint Baltic Birch wood with a colorful non-toxic milk paint and use the laser to etch the negative spaces of the image, leaving behind painted wood as the line work. After I program the laser to jigsaw the various parts of the design, the final step is to assemble the pieces together by hand. The result is vibrant, tactile and unique wall art that has both social meaning and physical depth.