Takis, Gender Structures, and Penetrating Thyself
Interview with Artist, Diego Mireles Duran
I met Austin based artist Diego Mireles Duran, the second weekend of East Austin Studio Tours (2019) waiting on a crosswalk on our way to Bolm Studios. My vision was blurry from being joyfully low on sleep, and the main thing I’d eaten was the only food free during tours—local beer and liquor. We strolled on the leaf covered sidewalk and talked about his process for an upcoming show at Mass Gallery. I realized then, I had known of Diego’s work, and had even photographed it the year before. His appearance alone is delightfully memorable, but his technical paintings had stood out to me around town for their ability to emulate digital brush stroke effects so well. As a procreate junkie, I was easily hooked on the traditional medium turned neon digital aesthetic.
Casey Alfstad (CA): Every time we talk, your’e often in majestic woods deep in nature…
Diego Mireles Duran (DMD): It’s true, I’m such a slut for nature. I swear I’m a Nalgene or pocket knife away from being one of those outdoor REI nature enthusiasts. Plants are definitely an essential element to my environmental abode. My house is crawling with all kinds of species of plants.
CA: You seem to work in all kinds of mediums as well, how would you describe your practice?
DMD: [I’m an] interdisciplinary creative practitioner. My output is synthesized into a wide range of approaches…from Murals and 2D painting, to soundscape design and minimal electronic music, to puppetry and performance with Kuniklo collective out of PR (Puerto Rico). The last things I was able to share before all hell broke loose was the ‘Spring Break’ art show in Manhattan, and ‘These Lessons’ with Brooke Burnside and Carlos Rosales Silva At Mass Gallery in ATX (Austin, Texas).
Image courtesy of WhoTattooedYou
CA: What has been informing your practice recently?
DMD: I’m really inspired by traditional Mexican objects, specifically speaking of them in the Spanish language. It’s bizarre how they are all gendered. Different foods and items in the kitchen have finite gender roles in traditional Mexican households, as well as within its society. In my current visual practice, I’m exploring ideas rendered from Object Oriented Ontology (OOO). I’m really interested in examining Latino culture [as] an intentional internalized subscription to the normalization of Machismo, Sexism, ableism, and homophobia .
CA: Do you think the artist has a role in the progression toward freedom from these internalized norms?
DMD: Depends on what one means by progression and freedom. Those two things can mean really problematic things for others. My role is to simply participate, and know my own value and place within the interdependence that exists in community.
Within the topic of Latin Gender norms in the work I’ve done, it is simply serving as a reference point for people to kind of catch a glimpse of the directions I have navigated away from or towards for personal transformation. In Latinx community for example, gender norms—it’s helpful if we can ask each other, does this shit serve us? Can we be done with machismo already? How can we do better than our previous mistakes, and the mistakes of our parents, and the mistakes of their parents—while still preserving an honorary token?
Butt-Plug ‘Sabor a Takis’, 2019 Acrylic on Wood and Takis
CA: Takis seem like an object worth preserving in your work, can elaborate?
DMD: Takis is probably one of my favorite snacks and one of my top five vices. I use it in my work because it’s an easy subject to recreate [since] I’m mirroring my surroundings. I prefer to utilize a little bit of nonsense combined [with a] little bit of trashy aesthetics. I can certainly appreciate an image of a beautiful flower, but wouldn’t it have a more interesting story if it was dusted in neon-red Takis flavoring?
[The Painting displayed above],‘Butt-Plug ‘Sabor a Takis touches on the erotic as a way to surrender the male gender’s roles of power. This piece celebrates personal intimacy and enduring pain/discomfort during states of vulnerability. It is about the artist breaking down his own walls as a way to allow himself to be penetrated and find personal peace…
CA: Can you talk more about utilizing ‘trashy aestetic’ in social dialogue?
DMD: It's a form of resistance to Classism/Americanism and abolishing the imposed status quo and neocolonial ideas of what beauty should look like. I’m forging my own ways of thinking and not going by what I’ve been taught to be valuable and pretty. I didn't invent it or anything, but it’s still pretty radical. For example in fashion, [the opposite] is a phenomenon. We see people believing something is worth giving attention to because someone with power decided to curate it in a specific way. Remember when Comme des Garcons debuted the “Guarachero” boot at fashion week in 2015? Those pointy-ass Mexican boots from the tiny town of Matehuala Mexico suddenly taking the world by storm just because Rei Kawakubo got a boner about it and wanted to show the world how these boots should actually be part of high society. Not that they were ever trashy, lol.
CA: Speaking of boners for high society and fashion… what styles are you into lately?
The Latinx fashion scene is really inspiring to me, like the team on Bad Bunny's latest album. [I’m] also obsessed with Barbara Sanchez Kane, who I had the pleasure of meeting in CDMX. I love how Barbara breaks out of status quo ideals in fashion such as ageism, gender, body shape [and] how they utilize object oriented ontology to communicate their work like tortillas as a coin purse, using condoms as a hair style accessory or stacked ranchero hats with molcajetes balancing in between each layer. It’s pretty genius [and] radically coming from a place that aims at rewriting narratives.
Desafio, 2019, Acrylic on Canvas. A fantastical depiction of what it may look like for the artist to lift themselves up by their own pointy-boot straps. It is about seeking refuge, calling upon ancestors for guidance as well as finding community.
CA: What spurred your comical approach to topics like trauma and gender?
DMD: I’m inspired by the artistry and comical absurdity of the Lakota's archetype known as the Heyoka. For the Lakota people, they are humanitarian civil servants that function as jesters or sacred clowns. They confront us with our own suffering in a way that puts our own ideas in check. Their vitriolic humor is meant to show a person who they truly and falsely are, or who they are becoming as a forewarning. An ego-checking clown that calls you out on your own bullshit. Who doesn't need that?
CA: Speaking of things we all need… who’s A$$Tech Puppy?
DMD: A$$Tech Puppy is one of my alter egos [and an ] electronic music project I’m currently recording. [They] kind of live in my closeted studio of drum machines and sequencers. A$$Tech Puppy only comes out at night to get people to shake their ass, get really sweaty and have fun with themselves and each other.
CA: What are you working on now?
DMD: Currently working on a small clothing brand with my sister Cecilia Alejandra, creating miniature sculptures and finally recording tracks for A$$Tech Puppy—you’ll see some things blossoming by the end of summer.
CA: Awesomeee. And to hold us over in the meantime… what type of dog is A$$ Tech Puppy?
DMD: Xolosquintle, loyal, but owned by nobody, loves unconditionally, but takes no bullshit, compassionate, but will sic’em for justice.
Stay up to date with Diego’s work at fayeg0 ,
and keep an eye out for their new sculpture series, (mutual funds donated to Protect Native Elders Navajo Relief Fund , Centro Legal de La Raza Relief Fund, and RAICES).
// Interview by Casey Alfstad (free verbs)