MEMBER PROFILE // The Evolution of Patricio Jijon

“One of my earliest recollections is being naked at the beach of the Ecuadorian Pacific Ocean, trying to understand the infinity of the size of the sea,” says artist and 3rd Ward member Patricio Jijon.

See this work on display in the 3rd Ward front window.

This “ambiguous sensitivity”—first experienced as a two-year-old staring at the horizon—remains a source of inspiration and creative energy for Jijon, who became a member with his wife Stephanie Garcia in late 2010.

“3rd Ward is helping me to transmutate my artistic career from painting into new media installation and performance art,” he says. Like any new language, software is “really hard to learn alone,” so Jijon has immersed himself in the interactive multimedia community at 3rd Ward by taking courses in Processing, Max/MSP, Sensors, Arduino, After Effects, and Blender. Skills acquired along the way also inform his work as a musician, producer, illustrator, photographer, and graphic designer.

Going back to his more low-tech roots, Jijon loves to participate in Drink N’ Draw, where he once was “amazed and thrilled” to recognize the model. “It was a friend of my wife, and also it was the first time I saw her naked.”

Once again, Jijon is in his awe-struck element, and the sky’s the limit. 

-- Cara Cannella