Articles
Meet Artist Walter Torres - El Malpais Community Arts Program
TriboElectricity by Walter Torres
Walter Torres is from Acoma Pueblo and has been creating sculptures for nearly 16 years. He creates contemporary abstract artwork out of Haubeni Kaacha Studios. He uses various types of stone and sterling silver. Walter starts his stone creations by utilizing plasticine clay for “maquettes”, or sculptural miniatures. He also uses cartoon and character drawing and the occasional cottonwood root as inspiration; from there, his sculptures begin taking on life.
Walter is a half Acoma Pueblo and half Yaqui/Apachean stone sculptor, jeweler, and painter. Walter states that he creates for “self-expression, his mental health, to provide for his family, and so (he) can be a kid again.”
Mentors for Walter include those who have taught him techniques to further his abilities, such as Adrian Wall, a renowned sculpture artist from Jemez Pueblo, known for his unique realism. He also references Keizo Ushio—a Japanese sculpture artist known internationally for his twisted granite sculptures—Brâncuși, considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century and the patriarch of modern Minimalist sculpture—and Salvador Dali with his strange, elongated dripping paintings.
“My grandmother has (also) been a major inspiration from an early age as I watched her make pottery and animals until she could not anymore. It has been a blessing to see her work.”
When you speak to Walter about his art, he will tell you that he enjoys creating by being in a quiet place where “it is just me and my thoughts. Creating dust and tangible art that can be viewed and enjoyed from every angle and can be seen by those who cannot. “
Walter's art has been displayed in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Indiana, Colorado, Arizona, and California. He has won awards at these shows. He states proudly, “...at all these shows I have demonstrated what I do to inspire our children first, and to those who want to learn self-sufficiency.”
When speaking of the inspiration behind his sculpture for El Malpais, Walter does not hesitate. “My drive for Triboelectricity was to show the strength of our Native People in our area here close to El Malpais. As volcanoes erupt, they create their own environment... colliding many minerals together (and) proving to be a magnificent force. This showed me that if we as people were to come together with a great understanding of each other, we would be one great, magnificent force as well. This is what I see in the lightning and clouds. We pray for rain, strength, healing and prosperity for the people, animals, rocks, and plants, that they may live forever.”
Future goals for Walter include continuing to make art for large scale monuments. His main goal is to “just keep going to feed my family and to inspire others to keep moving forward with their abilities.”
Walter acknowledges that the El Malpais Community Art Program “...is a wonderful opportunity for artists to reach for a higher self. Not just to make money, but to uplift and educate those who have not been cultured in Native American Arts. Without the artist there is no art, no life, no remembrance.”
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